First Place Winner

2006
Reporter-Times in Martinsville, IN
They Never Stop Searching
Gone without a trace
By Volitta Fritsche

National news has covered the stories of college co-ed, Julie Popovich, who was reported missing on 8/11/05 after leaving a bar in Columbus OH and of Natalee Holloway, who never returned from her vacation in Aruba, also Olivia Newton-John’s boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, who was last seen on a fishing boat off the California Coast line and of honeymoon husband, George Smith who seems to have vaporized from a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. But what about twenty-three year old Molly Dattilo who disappeared in Indianapolis on July 6th, 2004 or Brookley Louks, who was last seen in Johnson County on June 24, 2002 or Lola Katherine Fry who vanished from Greenwood on November 14, 1993 or Margaret Ann Hayes who has not been seen since leaving her Bloomington apartment on March 10th 1977? Who is giving their families hope? Who is helping them search for their loved one when it seems that everyone else has forgotten?

What happens to a missing person case when it’s no longer in the headlines?

According to Angie Bunch, Local Area Director of Doe Network, there are currently 1240 people reported missing in the State of Indiana. “It’s always disturbed me how someone can just vanish, without a trace,” Bunch said.

Angie is one of 580 civilian volunteers known as the Doe Network. The group’s mission is to assist Law Enforcement (LE) with solving cold-cases concerning unexplainable missing persons and unidentified victims.

The group officially started in 2001 and since that time has aided LE in solving 34 cases. Bunch a single mother of three, works full time at the University of Cumberland in Kentucky where she is also a part-time student of Psychology. Her first experience with a missing person case came during her pre-teen years when a neighborhood boy didn’t return home one evening. She recalled the community’s concern and horror when the young boy was later found in a near-by pond a victim of classmates who wanted his new bicycle. “This being the first time this type of thing had been close to me, I was both scared and interested,” Bunch recalled.

Bunch and other members of the Doe network have a special concern for families of the missing and for those unidentified individuals found in lonely wooded areas, desolate back roads and cornfields across the United States.

Heavy caseloads and emergencies often prevent LE from focusing on these types of cases once the trail has gone cold. Often bodies are discovered weeks, months and even years after being disposed of, making it hard to recreate a scene, determine a cause of death or even identify the person. More often than not the individual is not from the area in which they are discovered. Over the years Morgan County has been dubbed a dumping ground for homicide victims from surrounding communities. Although NCIC, a national computer base, often list missing persons, Law Enforcement is not always able to spend the hours necessary to research the data and track down possible matches. Doe Network tries to fill in this gap.

Doe volunteers spend thousands of hours researching newspapers and web-sites and watching the news, always on the look out for people reported missing or those found who are unidentified. As the information is gathered they compile it and look for possible matches. Once a possible match is made a review team goes over the information one more time. Once this is done the information is turned over to LE in both the area the subject was found and the jurisdiction in which the possible match were reported missing. Doe leaves validation of the identification to Law enforcement that check DNA, dental records or fingerprints whenever possible. Family notification is also left up to Law Enforcement professionals.

Everyone deserves a name

On September 13, 1998 the decomposed remains of a white male were discovered in a cornfield on Maple Grove Road in Morgan County. Despite weeks of investigation by the Morgan County Death Investigation Team the man could not be identified. He was buried on October 2, 1998 as a John Doe.

The Doe network is currently working with local officials in an effort to put a name with the remains of Mr. Doe.

Doe Network volunteers believe in speaking up for those that can’t speak for themselves as well as the idea that everyone deserves a name.

Morgan County’s John Doe is only one of eleven unidentified persons listed on the network for Indiana. The skeletal remains of a black female were discovered in a ravine in Owen County on October 14, 2003 and the body of a ten day old baby, wrapped in a blanket was found in the parking lot of Community North Hospital on January 26, 2000. Clutched in his small hand was a gold medallion of an angel.

Volunteers hope that someday all the unknowns will rest in peace with their true name engraved on their gravestone.

Reporting a missing person or unidentified

Out of respect for family’s privacy, it is Doe’s policy to never contact a family member of the missing. However, they invite anyone with a loved one missing to contact them and provide information they would like added to the site.

Volunteers needed

If you or someone you know has a special interest or concern for the missing or unidentified, Doe Network is always in need of volunteers. You can contact Angie Bunch through the web-site at www.doenetwork.org or at lost_angel5@yahoo.com.

Bunch encourages everyone to check out the site. She stress’s the importance of keeping the missing fresh in our minds. Don’t let them be forgotten.

If you have a tip about a missing person, you can remain anonymous. Contact: The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department at 765-342-5544 the Indiana State Police at 1-800-423-1286 or the Doe Network.

Volitta Fritsche www.volittasbooks.com