5/6/2005


Local Student Wins Unusual Scholarship

One. That's the number of scholarship opportunities without grade point average requirements available for learning disabled students.

One. That's the number of students in the Omaha area who won this scholarship.

Numerous. That's the number of issues faced by learning disabled students as they attempt to compensate for their disabilities and also seek the same opportunities for higher education as offered to their peers. The lack of scholarship opportunities for learning disabled students is not acceptable. These students may not be able to achieve the required grade point averages to be eligible for many scholarships. Because of language processing issues, the essays and other written materials may not be as polished as those of other students, making it even more difficult to for the learning disabled student to win scholarships.

Endless. That's the number of possibilities open in the future for this year's recipient of the Jason A. Jolkowski Scholarship, Robb Merriman, of Elkhorn High School. Robb will receive a $500 scholarship from local nonprofit organization Project Jason.

Robb has worked through his learning disabilities and is an honor roll student. He is employed at a local grocery store and plans to attend UNO after his graduation. His goal is to get a degree in computer science and a minor in Japanese language.

Robb loves the world of technology, and has worked on computers on his own for many years. He is taking networking classes along with Japanese, Trigonometry, and Calculus. He plans on using the language skills to interface with leaders in technology in the business world once he graduates. He would like to find a job at a computer company and eventually get married and have children. Robb says: "My will to succeed at school is twice that of my will to make my computer work great." This is the attitude and drive that made Robb the obvious choice for this year's scholarship.

To qualify for the scholarship, Robb wrote an essay about the plight of the missing in America. Robb pinpoints issues related to public awareness and the steps to take when a person becomes missing, safety training, and proper reporting of missing persons.

The Jason A. Jolkowski Scholarship is named after missing Omaha youth, Jason Jolkowski, who disappeared from his home in June 2001. Jason is a former Omaha Westside and Benson High School student who was able to triumph over learning disabilities with the help of his family, teachers, and friends.

Learning disabilities is an invisible disability, and it can be a struggle to keep up with the other students. Learning disabled students do not process information in the same way as other students. Often they encounter difficulties with multitasking, and the typical classroom setting may not allow them to make full use of compensatory strategies they have been taught. These students should be applauded and rewarded for their efforts. As the Jolkowskis learned from their own son's experience, it is not an easy thing to face and overcome.

Jason went on to attend Iowa Western Community College and was enrolled in the Radio Broadcasting program. His parents and founders of Project Jason, Jim and Kelly Jolkowski of Omaha, feel that Jason would want this scholarship to be presented to a student who faces the extra challenges brought about by having learning disabilities.

The scholarship is also another way that Project Jason can give back to the community that supports their efforts in assisting families of the missing nationwide and providing educational information to the public. Their website is located at www.projectjason.org.

The heart of the story is Robb’s perseverance to win at learning and the courage to face his disabilities. Perhaps Robb Merriman will become the next Bill Gates, and even if he isn’t, it is clear he will achieve his goals and dreams.

NPR's Radio's News & Notes with Ed Gordon show featured missing Tamika Huston on a segment that explores media bias in missing person's case.

Tamika's aunt talks about this issue, as she has fought for national attention for her niece since she disappeared in June of 2004.

Kelly Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason, and mother of missing Jason Jolkowski, also makes comments about bias towards male and minority cases.

You can listen to the broadcast by clicking on "Listen" at the top of the page.

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundown...view=storyview

Ed Gordon is an Emmy-award winning journalist, and a contributor to 60 Minutes. He previously reported for the Today Show and Dateline NBC.

5/19/2005

The Ride for Missing Children is an awareness/fundraising event for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The Ride for Missing Children is an annual 100-mile bicycle ride open to a limited number of pre-qualified riders. The mission of the ride is to promote awareness about missing and exploited children, promote child-safety-education, and raise funds for the work of NCMEC.

Two hundred eighty-eight cyclists will travel two-by-two for 100 miles, stopping at designated elementary schools for a safety awareness presentation. The opening ceremony begins on Friday, May 20th at 6:45am at the NYSP Troop D headquarters in Oneda, NY.

More than 3.2 million posters have been printed out of NCMEC‘s Utica NY location, where the ride originated. Of the 1,028 missing and exploited children targeted by these posters 664 children have been successfully recovered as a result of poster distribution.

Omaha resident Kelly Jolkowski will be an honorary rider in the event and will speak at both the opening and closing ceremony.

Kelly’s son Jason Jolkowski, then 19, disappeared from his Omaha home on June 13, 2001. Since that time, Kelly and her husband Jim have worked to establish Project Jason, a nonprofit organization to assist families of the missing nationwide. They are also active in legislation, and are close to getting their bill, LB 111, Jason’s Law, passed in the state legislature. Jason’s Law will establish a true Missing Person’s Clearinghouse in Nebraska with services and benefits for all ages.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5/24/05

A Project Jason Brief:

Wednesday, May 25th is National Missing Children’s Day as established by President Reagan in 1983. This serves as an annual reminder to the nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children with their families and make child protection a national priority. National Missing Children’s Day is a reminder to all parents and guardians of the need for high-quality photographs of their children for use in case of an emergency, and for the need for everyone to pay close attention to the posters and photographs of missing children.

Project Jason is going to the heart of the city for National Missing Children’s Day, and will be at the Omaha OIC at 2724 N 24th St. From 3-7pm, representatives will do free fingerprinting, give away Personal ID Kits, safety brochures, and the Adopt a Missing Person program will be available. Participating children will receive a free balloon.

Jason's Law, LB111, is up for third round debate on National Missing Children's Day. If it passes this round, it will be sent to the governor to sign. He can veto it, but a preliminary check on his thoughts about the bill were positive.

5/26/2005

After arriving home from our National Missing Children's Day event, we found out that LB111, Jason's Law, has passed the third and final round of debate. It now will be sent to the Governor to sign or veto. We do not know how long it will take for this final process, but what we do know is that is that we are very pleased that if anyone in the State of Nebraska becomes missing, at least they will now have more of a fighting chance to be found.

Many blessings,
Kelly

http://www.theomahachannel.com

Family's Loss Inspires Law To Help Find Missing Persons

Jason Jolkowski Disappeared In June 2001

POSTED: 9:17 am CDT June 13, 2005
UPDATED: 9:38 am CDT June 13, 2005

OMAHA, Neb. -- Families with missing loved one will get more help in Nebraska beginning this fall, thanks to legislation passed in May by the Unicameral.

The state is developing a clearinghouse that will keep track of all the missing-person cases. It will also start a toll free hotline and Web site. The initiative was inspired by a missing Omaha teenager.

Jason Jolkowski disappeared on June 13, 2001. His parents want to help other families avoid the frustrations they encountered, so they helped write "Jason's Law." The idea is to give missing persons a better chance to be found.

The goal of the new law is to get the public informed about the missing person and garner the public's help. The Nebraska State Patrol will head up the efforts.

"We're pleased that Nebraska took action, (to help) future Jasons," said Kelly Jolkowski, Jason's mother.

Jason's Law will go into effect on Sept. 3. It will cost the state about $50,000 a year to maintain the resources.

 [/hr]6/18/2005

A Project Jason Brief

Jannel Rap, singer-songwriter and founder of two nonprofits for the missing, will be featured on KMUD radio today, starting at 5pm PST. Jannel’s sister, Gina Bos, has been missing from Lincoln, NE for over 4 years. Jannel founded Warriors for the Missing this year to unite organizations with the common goal to work together to find our missing loved ones. Other guests on the show will include Abby Potash, Director of Team Hope, and Kelly Jolkowski, President and Founder of Project Jason. You may listen online by going to www.kmud.org

http://www.belleville.com/

Posted on Thu, Jul. 07, 2005

Family, friends mark anniversary of teen's disappearance

Associated Press


ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - A group of 50 family, friends and community members gathered to mark the one-year anniversary since a St. Joseph teen disappeared in the company of a convicted felon.

Ashley Martinez, who would now be 16, was last seen leaving the Krug Pool with Christopher Hart, 33, who police say told her he would take her to California. Hart was arrested in September in Olympia, Wash., for a parole violation and was extradited to Jackson County. He has refused to talk about Ashley or her whereabouts.

The girl's mother, Tammy Navinskey, said Wednesday she was still optimistic her daughter was still alive and felt the gathering, featuring pictures, white roses and other personal items was helpful.

"Hopefully this will be a strong enough prayer to get her home," Navinskey said.

St. Joseph Police Sgt. Jill Voltmer said investigators have checked more than 100 tips on Ashley's disappearance but haven't found anything yet.

Among the people attending the candlelight vigil Wednesday was Kelly Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason, an Omaha, Neb.-based nonprofit organization that helps in missing person searches.

"Oftentimes when leads run out, all we have is awareness and hope," Jolkowski said.

7/7/2005



http://www.stjoenews-press.com/

STORY: CANDLELIGHT VIGIL MARKS 1 YEAR FOR MISSING GIRL

Wednesday marked the 365th night Tammy Navinskey went to sleep not knowing where her daughter, Ashley Martinez, was.
No phone calls. No letters. No trace of her.

Family and community members gathered Wednesday night in an effort to shed some light on Ms. Martinez’ disappearance, so that some night Mrs. Navinskey can know where her daughter is sleeping.

“It’s been a year and we’ve had no contact with her,” said John Navinskey, Ms. Martinez’ stepfather.

Ms. Martinez, now 16, left town July 6, 2004, and was last seen at Krug Pool — the location of a candlelight vigil conducted in her memory Wednesday night.
A group of about 50 lit candles and prayed at dusk in the pool’s parking lot. Pictures of Ms. Martinez, white roses and some of her personal items adorned an altar-like table in front of the crowd.

“Hopefully this will be a strong enough prayer to get her home,” Mrs. Navinskey said.

The St. Joseph Police Department has received more than 100 tips on Ms. Martinez’ disappearance, but none have checked out, according to Sgt. Jill Voltmer.
“I can assure you we will not give up until we bring Ashley home,” said Ms. Voltmer, lead missing persons investigator for the Police Department. “… That’s my guarantee to John and Tammy.”

Kelly Jolkowski, of Omaha, Neb., said she has spent more than 1,000 nights waiting to find out what had happened to her son, Jason.

Ms. Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason, a non-profit organization that assists in missing persons searches, traveled to St. Joseph Wednesday to speak at the vigil.

“Oftentimes when leads run out, all we have is awareness and hope,” she said, encouraging family and friends to post Ms. Martinez’ posters in as many places as possible. “This is why what you do is so important.”

Ms. Martinez left St. Joseph last year with Chris Hart, 33, a convicted felon. Mr. Hart was arrested in Washington on a parole violation warrant in September and since has been extradited to Jackson County. He continues to refuse to divulge Ms. Martinez’ whereabouts, police say.

The Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation is offering a $5,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the safe return of Ms. Martinez.

Citizens are asked to call the Tips Hotline, 238-TIPS, Ms. Voltmer at 271-4747 with any information regarding the endangered teen runaway.

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.a...05 0711b.html

Project Jason Gives Help, Hope to Missing Persons' Families

By Dawn Rizzoni

CNSNews.com Correspondent
July 11, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Some missing persons cases, such as those involving Shasta and Dylan Groene and "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks, have received extensive media coverage. But the disappearances of thousands of other people get little attention, and their loved ones receive little help and hope.

"Awareness of a missing person is often key to resolution of these cases," Kelly Jolkowski, founder and president of Project Jason, a non-profit organization focusing on the vast majority of missing persons cases that get little or no attention.

"The more often a missing loved one's face is seen, the greater the odds of location and reunion," Jolkowski said.

According to FBI statistics, 47,589 people have been listed as missing since May 1, although Jolkowski said such statistics are unreliable due to a large number of unreported incidents.

Since its inception in October of 2003, Project Jason has developed several methods to aid in finding missing persons, including "Adopt a Missing Person" and "18-Wheel Angels."

In the Adopt a Missing Person program, individuals of all ages send away for free literature, buttons, fliers and posters related to a particular missing person.

Participants then hand out the posters and fliers, wear buttons with photos of their adopted person and distribute information about the disappearance. To date, 1,156 "adoptions" of missing people have been made.

Another program is 18-Wheel Angels, in which truck drivers volunteer their time and resources to help locate a missing loved one. The drivers print out a featured poster from Project Jason's website (which changes posters every other month) and post them along their routes.

Dozens of families have benefited from Jolkowski's efforts, including the family of 24-year old Tamika Huston, who vanished from Spartanburg, S.C., a year ago.

"I spent many frustrated days and nights trying to contact national media regarding Tamika's disappearance," said her aunt, Rebkah Howard. "I felt as though it was imperative that her story be known as far and wide as possible in order to increase the chances of her coming home safely to us."

Howard contacted Project Jason for help. Jolkowski "listened and helped when so many others were simply not interested," Howard said. "She provided guidance and support and made extraordinary efforts to post Tamika's photo and information on various websites that feature the missing."

Tamika was also included in the Adopt a Missing Person program. "My sister, Tamika's mother, was particularly touched by the kindness of the strangers who would 'adopt' her daughter and keep her story alive by doing something as simple as wearing a pin bearing her photo," Howard said.

She added that Project Jason fills the gap that is left by lack of attention by national media. "There are thousands of missing persons in this country," Howard said. "The majority of them do not have the benefit of round-the-clock coverage on the various networks.

"Project Jason is there to serve all of these individuals and their families who are so desperate to find them. I find this to be amazing work for the mother of a young man who still remains missing to this day," she added.

Jolkowski's son Jason went missing at 19 years of age on June 13, 2001, from the family's driveway in Omaha, Neb., but Jason's story has attracted none of the national media attention that has been focused on other cases.

Jolkowski and Nebraska State Sen. Pat Bourne, were instrumental in getting Jason's Law passed -- a bill to create a statewide clearinghouse of information on missing persons and provide training and education to law enforcement officials.

To date, no individuals have been found through the project, but Jolkowski said she doesn't measure success by the number of people located. Instead, she said it is based on "how it makes the families of our missing loved ones feel when they know that others are now helping them.

"Many times in these cases, after law enforcement has sifted through the clues, and there are no more leads to follow, what is left is awareness and hope," she said. "Those are the sustaining gifts we provide to the families we service."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...-persons_x.htm

Posted 7/14/2005 11:53 PM

Groups spotlight others missing

By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY

When Kelly Jolkowski's 19-year-old son Jason disappeared in 2001, she and her husband "had no idea what to do."
"We basically sat there and waited for the phone to ring" as Omaha police began to investigate, Jolkowski says. "We didn't know there were other resources out there."

She says at least 10 days were lost. Days they could have been distributing fliers, calling the media, holding vigils to attract TV cameras, contacting support groups, collecting information — steps that might have led them to Jason, who remains missing. At 19, he was too old for an AMBER Alert, the system first used in Dallas in 1996 and soon after across the nation to quickly publicize a child's disappearance.

What Jolkowski didn't know then, but which she and many other friends and family of the missing have unfortunately learned: There is a small but growing number of national organizations that try to help spread the word when anyone goes missing.

The help and advice such groups give, say Jolkowski and others who are going through the painful experience of missing someone, are invaluable.

Finding strength in numbers

Such groups are especially important, Jolkowski and others say, because the national media don't appear interested in all types of missing persons. Most of the media's attention goes to cases involving white women or white girls, such as 18-year-old Natalee Holloway of Alabama. She disappeared May 30 in Aruba.

Jolkowski, who decided to found one organization herself (Project Jason), says she now believes one of the most important things everyone should do is be prepared.

"If you are loved by someone you need to put together a personal identification kit. If you love someone, you need to put together a personal I.D. kit for them," she says. "People look at me like I'm nuts when I tell them that, but it's true."

There is a free "personal identification kit" at www.projectjason.org. It details the type of information and material to collect. Those include photos, hair samples for DNA and dental records.

The point of such kits: When distraught, loved ones may forget key bits of information that could help identify a missing person and help police when they're publicizing that person's description.

Two of the better known groups that assist families are the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and its sister organization, the National Center for Missing Adults. Both can publicize disappearances and advise families and loved ones on what to do.

"We don't investigate and we're not psychics," says Erin Bruno, one of the case managers at the Missing Adults center. The center can post information about a missing person on its Web site, put together press releases to generate publicity and offer advice to families on other ways to get attention.

John Walsh, host of the Fox network's America's Most Wanted, became a national advocate for missing persons after the 1981 kidnapping and murder of his 6-year-old son, Adam. He and his wife, Reve, co-founded the center for Missing & Exploited Children, and he supports the emergence of groups such as the Missing Adults center and Project Jason.

But, Walsh says, "while there may be tons more resources" since his son was killed, "the ranks are still so thin. We put up space shuttles for billions of dollars, but the FBI has tens of thousands of missing persons in its computers who no one is looking for."

Producers, editors and media critics agree that few missing persons cases get the kind of attention from the national media as that of Holloway.

Who gets the headlines?

That coverage, coming after national attention to the murder of Laci Peterson, the cross-country trip of "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks and the rescue of Utah schoolgirl Elizabeth Smart, has also raised questions about the media. One question is whether the national media, especially cable networks, give too much attention to stories about missing young white women as opposed to cases involving minorities and men.

Robert Spellman, 27, of Los Angeles, disappeared April 12. His case has gotten so little attention that the National Center for Missing Adults recently used Spellman to illustrate a press release titled "Missing Men Need Coverage Too."

Thomas Hoeflaak, 56, went missing May 31. He was last seen in Grand Blanc, Mich. A friend, Leilah Ward of Ocala, Fla., is a spokeswoman for his family. "The first week you're in total disbelief," she says. "The second week you go from weepy to angry." His case also has been mostly ignored.

Also still waiting to find out what happened to their loved one are the friends and family of Tamika Huston. The 24-year-old black woman from Spartanburg, S.C., disappeared a year ago. Her case has gotten almost no national media attention.

After USA TODAY wrote about Huston's case June 16, and after America's Most Wanted reported about it in March and again June 25, Spartanburg police got some new leads but no breakthroughs, Lt. Steve Lamb of the department's criminal investigation division said in an e-mail to USA TODAY.

Huston's case is due for another round of media attention later this month, when Dateline NBC is planning to air a report. Dateline correspondent Josh Mankiewicz says "there's really no point in anyone trying to refute it." The national media spent "an inordinate amount of time on stories where the victims are attractive, young, white women."

7/15/2005

Kelly Jolkowski will appear on the FOX Network news show Dayside at 12:30cst today.

There were also segments today on the Ron Thulin Show and Mike Gallagher's show:

http://www.mikeonline.com/site

7/24/05

I will be a guest on the KWIX Morning Show on Monday, July 25th at about 8:30am CST. You can listen live at KWIX Live

This 30 minute talk covers a wide range of topics including: Jason's story, the history of Project Jason, our awareness programs, personal safety and preparation, and the media's coverage of missing person's cases.

Thank you.

Project Jason was featured in the current issue of the National Center for Missing Adults newsletter "The Missing Voice".

The Come Home program, the first ever national missing locator program which seeks the missing among the homeless, is mentioned on page 5 of the newsletter.

On page 7 is a piece that I wrote for a family of a missing person who was struggling with the emotions surrounding having a missing loved one. I also used this piece as a basis for my keynote speech at the New York State Missing Person's Day earlier this year. The piece is called "Let no Stone Remain Unturned".

You can read the newsletter at:

http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/ne...vol1issue5.pdf

8/1/2005

A Project Jason Press Release


Blog About Missing Persons Contains “Inside Information”

Omaha, NE, August 1, 2005 -- Blogs exist that contain information about missing persons, but none are written with the firsthand knowledge and inside information of someone who works directly with the families of the missing. The blog, “Project Jason-Voice for the Missing”, is written by Kelly Jolkowski, who has experienced this tragedy herself, as her own son, Jason, has been missing without a trace for over 4 years.

Daily entries to the blog will take you inside the lives of the families of the missing. Readers can follow along as the never-ending stories unfold. Professionals who work in the field will also be given a voice, as they provide information in their area of expertise.

Frustrated by the lack of attention for all missing persons cases, nonprofit organization Project Jason founder Kelly Jolkowski wanted to find another way to fulfill their mission statement, which calls for them to create and increase awareness for these persons. Thousands of missing person’s cases do not get national attention, and may not even get local attention.

Recently featured in a USA Today article about lack of attention for missing person’s cases, particularly for missing males, Kelly hopes that the article, and now the blog, along with the outcry from other Internet sources, will help bring about change: “Awareness is the key to resolving these cases and reuniting the families. We have to help make them visible in order to accomplish this.”

On the blog, Kelly states: “We are the Voice for the Missing; speaking for those who are not among us but who are forever in our hearts. Through the eyes of those who experience this tragedy; the families of the missing, and through our own personal experiences, we'll share the pain, the fears, and the daily struggles.”

The blog can be viewed at http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/

Project Jason is a 501 (c ) 3 nonprofit organization based out of Omaha, NE. The all-volunteer group’s primary focus is awareness for missing person’s cases, support and resources for their families, and education of the public.

8/4/2005

Highly respected blogger Steve Huff spoke of the brand new Project Jason blog on his Twilight Kingdom blog today.

http://www.planethuff.com/twilight_kingdom/

"More Missing People in the Tropics, and a Note About Kelly & Jason


I must point you toward a new missing persons-related blog begun by Kelly Jolkowski. voice4themissing.blogspot.com is either a companion to or part of Kelly's Project Jason.

Kelly Jolkowski's son Jason, age 19, vanished on June 13, 2001. His brother Michael last saw Jason dragging trashcans up from the curb while Jason was waiting for a ride to his job. There is no reason to believe Jason is a runaway, but there are very few clues as to what did happen.

I quote now from Project Jason's mission statement:

Our mission as a non profit organization is to create and increase public awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance to families of the missing by providing resources and support.

The mission also applies to Kelly's new blogspot blog.

Because Twilight Kingdom already gets a decent number of readers daily I want to quote from an e-mail Kelly sent me:

"It's so heartbreaking to try to get media attention for our families and strike out time after time. I know it is like a slap in the face to them when their cheek is already so raw. That is why I had to start this blog. I'll sneak in the back door if I have to and get the word out for these families in pain..."

The media can seem highly selective about this particular subject. You even hear reporters on various news channels discussing this criticism -- that some missing persons cases get more coverage than others -- and lamely defending lack of coverage because, say, "law enforcement doesn't suspect foul play" yet, or because the person may have simply run away.

Hopefully Kelly's move into blogging will be as wise as I think it is, and she will be able to bring more and more of these unjustly neglected cases forward. Because I do get a few hundred readers a day here right now, perhaps the word will spread, which is the reason I quoted from Kelly's e-mail. The families at the very least deserve the comfort of knowing that somewhere out there, complete strangers will still give a damn, whether their missing loved ones' face is plastered all over CNN or Fox or not."

8/12/2005


www.prolifeblogs.com

Project Jason - Searching for the Mssing
One of the newest members of ProLifeBlogs.com is the weblog of Project Jason which shares the stories of the lives of missing persons and their families.

http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/

Kelly Jolkowski, the founder of Project Jason, turned her own personal tragedy (the disapperance of her son Jason) into help and action for others. She states, "We are the Voice for the Missing; speaking for those who are not among us but who are forever in our hearts. Through the eyes of those who experience this tragedy; the families of the missing, and through our own personal experiences, we'll share the pain, the fears, and the daily struggles."

Recently featured in a USA Today article about lack of attention for missing person’s cases, particularly for missing males, Kelly hopes that the article, and now the blog, along with the outcry from other Internet sources, will help bring about change: "Awareness is the key to resolving these cases and reuniting the families. We have to help make them visible in order to accomplish this."

I share Kelly's hope and encourage pro-life bloggers to help Project Jason spread the word about individuals who, like Jason, are missing.

9/3/2005

http://www.racingwest.com/news/story.php3/12071/



Cause driven Youth living a dream
Steele Races for Missing Nebraska Youth


Tony Steele, of Glendale AZ accepts a challenge of a lifetime. Steele, at only sixteen years of age with many challenges ahead in his young life, has one huge one presently in front of him. “We can’t imagine what we will learn at the Nationals, most of the best drivers in the country will be competing in this event” Said Tony Steele.
http://www.racinginiowa.com/boonespeedway.html

Steele will be competing in the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, IA. Boone Speedway is hosting stockcar racing at its finest with Hobby Stocks, Stocks, Late Models, Sprints and the Modifieds with car counts in the seven-hundred range. Racing starts on Monday September 5th through September 10th with tune up events for Steele at Beatrice Speedway, Nebraska Saturday night, September 3rd, and at Nebraska’s Raceway Park on Sunday, September 4th. http://www.neracewaypark.com

Veteran and standout driver/car owner Terry Shearer of Auburn, Nebraska will provide the experience necessary for Steele, as he will prepare a second IMCA hobby stock for action during the week of the Nationals. Steele, will be representing the Racing for the Missing (RFTM) Safety & Awareness program in Shearer`s #9TS Razor Chassis/Olds Cutlass. The photograph of missing Omaha youth, Jason Jolkowski, will adorn the hood of this racecar, and his family will be in attendance at both the Sunday and Monday night events.

Steele will have to literally out drive over one hundred of his competitors just to make it in to the main event held Saturday night September 10th. Pete Steele (Tony’s father) commented “This is the first step of many, Tony knows how to win and when we do this we can focus on winning the biggest race of Tony’s life to this point.” With the help of veteran racer and Nebraska resident Terry Shearer, the Arizona driver and his father will live one of many dreams in what they believe will be a long career in motorsports.

RFTM is a division of the Nations Missing Children’s Organization & Center for Missing Adults and aside from promoting safety in communities nationwide, RFTM`s mission is to increase the likelihood of a safe return of a missing child or “at risk” adult. We do this by positioning photographs of missing persons and law enforcement contact information on the most valued location on a racecar in high-visibility motor sports venues such as NASCAR, NHRA, USAC, and others. We provide support and encourage family involvement with teams and media trackside improving awareness and utilizing the team’s transporters as mobile billboards positively impacting the communities we travel through serving to protect and involve personal safety information at each event.

MISSING

Jason Anthony Jolkowski of Omaha Nebraska, disappeared June 13, 2001 Jason was last seen bringing in garbage cans at his residence after pickup. He was leaving to go meet a co-worker at the high school only 8 blocks away to get a ride to work but never arrived. He has not accessed his bank account and has not cashed checks from his employer.

http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/ga...hp?A200301135W

Jason is a white male, six foot one inches tall, weighing 165 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes and a light complexion. Jason was last seen wearing a white "Chicago Cubs" or "Sammy Sosa" t-shirt, black dress pants, blue "Cubs" cap, dress shoes, and also carrying red work shirt.

To learn more about Jason’s disappearance and how you can help others, go to these web sites for more information. www.Projectjason.org and www.theyaremissed.org

“We are so fortunate to have people like the Steele family working with us, together we are creating a safer place for our children.” said Darrell LaMoure, Co-Founder of RFTM and Program Manager.

We extend a special thank you to our friends at Nebraska Raceway Park and Boone Speedway for their support of the family of Jason Jolkowski. Each facility will provide Jason’s family with complementary VIP passes to the events and an opportunity to share their story with the people of Iowa & Nebraska. Thanks also to Justice Brothers, Meyer-Earp Chevrolet and Razor Chassis for all of their efforts on the Hobby Stock that Tony will pilot. [/hr]Last edited by Kelly : 04-24-2006 at 09:35 PM.

http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=3875838

Website hopes to solicit new leads in case of missing woman

Sep 20, 2005, 06:20 PM CDT

Norma Massa was reported missing on December 13, 2004, from the Tunica, Mississippi area.

For Memphian Laura LaScola, surveillance video from a Tunica casino is a painful reminder of how long it's been since her mother, Norma Massa, disappeared.

"I am just hopeful that we can get our first lead and find out where she is," she said.

LaScola said she hopes some new leads will come from the national missing persons program called "Come Home."

For the next several weeks the program will feature Norma Massa on a national web site that sends pictures of Massa to homeless shelters around the country.

"We printed out a PDF of that and posted it around our building, in case one of our clients or staff members sees this person, or in case they are staying with them," said Steve Carpenter at Union Mission in Memphis.

Union Mission officials said a premise of the program is individuals can sometimes get disoriented and forget where they are from. Such a person may end up in a homeless shelter.

"I hope someone is caring for her in a shelter, or some kind of home," Carpenter said. "Of course, that's my greatest hope."

LaScola is baffled that few clues about her mother's disappearance have turned up. She thinks her mother's medical conditions could have affected her awareness of who she is and where she lives.

"Maybe she's had a stroke or something, and I know she didn't have her blood pressure medicine, so that's a possibility," she said.

LaScola says she won't rest until the mystery of what happened to her mother is solved.

Family members have raised the reward for information about Massa's whereabouts to $50,000.

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/...6063081819.txt


Top Story:

Nebraska set to offer clearinghouse for missing adults

By GWEN TIETGEN / Lincoln Journal Star

When Kelly Jolkowski realized her son Jason had disappeared from their Omaha home just days before his 20th birthday, she felt like she was watching herself in a movie and couldn’t get out.

Numb. Paralyzed.

Jason was last seen June 13, 2001, by his brother, Michael.

“Somewhere between our driveway and the high school he disappeared,” said Jolkowski, noting his car was in the shop so a friend was picking him up for work. “Over four years later, we don’t really know a thing. A police sergeant (called it) the most baffling case he has seen in 30 years.”

Since then, Jolkowski has thrust her grief into looking for her son and helping others with missing loved ones. Profiles of some of Nebraska's missing

She helped push a law through the Legislature this year to create a statewide missing persons clearinghouse for adults and children. A Web site will complement the clearinghouse so all can see Nebraska’s missing. The information is set to go online in about a month, said Lt. John Shelton, with the Nebraska State Patrol.

Inside law enforcement, the new law means the names of both missing children and adults are forwarded to the Nebraska State Patrol. Those in law enforcement also receive a bulletin twice a month of all the state’s missing persons.

Prior to passage of the law, which took effect in September, law enforcement only passed on names of missing children younger than of 16.

“If it was an adult, it’s possible no one else would know they are missing unless you contact that department,” said Lincoln police Capt. Gary Engel.

The clearinghouse also will establish a procedure to alert local media outlets, said Cindy Kess, clearinghouse manager and supervisor in the State Patrol’s criminal identification division.

“It’ll be a work-in-progress, really, is what it’ll be,” she said.

Now, the State Patrol’s Web site links to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Center for Missing Adults Web sites.

Three missing adults and seven missing children from Nebraska pop up on those Web sites, but that’s a far cry from the 391 active missing persons cases in Nebraska as of Sept. 31, Kess said.

At any given time, Lincoln police investigate 50 to 75 missing adult and children cases, Engel said.

Most are found within a reasonable amount of time, and only half a dozen or so are long-term cases or are missing under suspicious circumstances, he said.

The most suspicious and notorious cases in Lincoln are those of Regina Bos and Melissa Schmidt.

Bos, who would now be 45, was last seen Oct. 17, 2000, outside a downtown Lincoln bar. Schmidt, who would now be 25, was last seen Sept. 5, 1995. She had stayed over at a friend’s home the night before, and the next day went to the Nebraska State Fair, Engel said. Investigators believe she came home from the fair and disappeared sometime afterward.

Jolkowski said the typical person has no idea where to turn after reporting a loved one missing. The notion of offering rewards or posting pictures of the missing person may be foreign to families who find themselves in the middle of a police investigation, she said.

To help, Jolkowski formed Project Jason.

“I think there’s a healing. A self-healing in reaching out and helping other people,” she said.

But helping others puts her on an emotional roller coaster, she said.

There are good days, like when media coverage of a missing person could lead to a tip that finds the loved one.

And there are bad days. In one week, Jolkowski found out two of the three families she had been working with were told their loved one had been murdered.

Sometimes, talking about missing people can make Jolkowski relive her own horrifying experience. Those times are starting to be less and less now, she said.

She goes on after hearing another grieving family member thank her for her help. And for caring.

“These people need that relief of talking to somebody who truly understands,” she said.

One night after a long conversation, a family member said simply, “‘I don’t even know you but I love you.’”

“I’m so blessed to get to do this work. It’s a privilege to help people and affect things in their lives, and we get to do it in our son’s name.”

Whether it’s help through Project Jason or the clearinghouse, awareness is the key, Jolkowski said.

“Because sooner or later you’re going to run across somebody who knows something,” she said.

Said the State Patrol’s Shelton: “Eventually, when the Web site is populated, it’ll put more eyes on the street for law enforcement to solve more of these missing persons (cases).”

On the Web

Project Jason, a nonprofit organization designed to help families cope and find their missing loved ones: www.projectjason.org.

Nebraska State Patrol: http://www.nsp.state.ne.us/ Click on Programs/Services

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: http://www.missingkids.com/

National Center for Missing Adults: http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/

http://www.theindependent.com/storie...issing30.shtml

Web-Posted Oct 30, 2005

Looking for the lost, missing
Not all cases are handled the same by officials


By Gretchen Fowler


From the 2001 abduction of a Kearney teenager to a massive search for two Ord natives lost in a snowstorm, missing persons cases in Nebraska over the past five years have made local, state and national news.
Not all cases are handled the same, and not all cases have a happy ending. Fortunately, even in the grimmest looking of circumstances, some of them do.

"Our attempts to locate, the majority of the time, come in the form of overdue parties," said Capt. Chris Kolb, who commands the Nebraska State Patrol's Troop C, which is based in Grand Island.

Such was the case when Kearney farmer Gerald "Jerry" Gillming, 52, was reported missing on Oct. 21 from his farmland near Gibbon. He didn't show up when expected and was reported missing by his family.

Gillming was found alive five days later in Kansas and returned home in good health. He claimed to have been abducted but admitted later that the story was made up.

Air and ground searches conducted for Gillming were similar to searches conducted for a missing Indiana woman whose abandoned car was found in Hamilton County this year. In both cases, law enforcement had a specific area to search, and in both cases, the search was called off when the area had been thoroughly covered.

"A lot of it is based on the information you have on hand and the resources available to use," Kolb said of the decision to initiate a full-scale search.

The situation's circumstances control what assets are put forward and how far the initial search goes, he said. When you exhaust immediate leads, he said, you sit back and wait for the next break that will lead you somewhere else. There is no set time for how long a physical search should continue.

"A lot depends on the circumstances and the information the reporting parties give you," Kolb said. "There are no set circumstances that somebody has to be gone X-number of hours."

The search in January for Ord natives Janelle Hornickel and Michael Wamsley began in Sarpy County when dispatchers received several 911 calls from the couple saying they were lost in a snowstorm. In that case, the search was centered around areas in which the couple believed they might be and areas near cell phone towers that picked up their calls for help.

That case, as well as the case of the missing Indiana woman, Gillming's case and the case of a Central City native who was reported missing in February, all involved volunteers from the general public.

Kolb said the Gillming incident is "indicative of the Nebraska spirit of cooperation and helping out fellow citizens."

He said it's nice to know that, when the need arises, people will leave their regular jobs and go out and help.

Many volunteers who helped search for missing persons in Nebraska this year did so on their own time. That assistance, Kolb said, is invaluable and very much appreciated.

"The number of people that you have betters your ability to cover a tract of land thoroughly so you can make sure you didn't miss anything," Kolb said.

When it comes to how long you should wait before reporting someone missing, Kolb said you need to look at the circumstances. Is it like that person to go somewhere without letting others know, is it like him or her to be late, and would that person call under normal circumstances?

When asked what a person can do to ensure his or her safety, Kolb said, "Be aware of your surroundings. One shouldn't live in fear, and I don't think someone has to live in fear in this part of the country."

If you're going somewhere you're nervous about, Kolb suggests taking a friend along or letting someone know where you'll be and when to expect you back. Take a cell phone with you when you're alone. If you perceive someone who is odd or paying extra attention to you, put yourself in the position to be around a number of people so there would be help readily available if something would happen.

A new clearinghouse designed to track missing adults in Nebraska was launched this month on the Nebraska State Patrol's Web site. Nebraska lawmakers created the Missing Person's Clearinghouse during the 2005 legislative session, with the passage of LB111.

The Nebraska State Patrol will serve as a central repository for information on missing persons. Information gathered is disseminated to assist law enforcement agencies, public and private organizations and the citizens of Nebraska in locating missing persons.

"The patrol has long maintained a database of missing children. The addition of missing adults will allow us to provide information for all Nebraska families searching for a missing loved one," said Col. Bryan Tuma, State Patrol superintendent.

The public can access information on missing persons in Nebraska by logging on to www.nsp.state.ne.us, clicking on "Programs/Services" in the left-hand menu column, then clicking on "NE Missing Persons."

The Nebraska Missing Persons Clearinghouse can be reached by calling (402) 479-4986 or (877) 441-LOST (5678).

Area missing persons cases in the news


Kearney teen Anne Sluti was 17 years old when she was abducted from a mall parking lot in Kearney on April 6, 2001. Witnesses reported the abduction to police. Sluti was held captive for six days by Anthony Zappa, also known as Anthony Steven Wright, a fugitive wanted for various crimes in five other states. Zappa surrendered after a 10-hour standoff with police at a remote cabin in Montana. He was sentenced in September 2002 to life in prison without parole. Sluti was returned safely to her family, and the story was featured on Court TV in 2004.

Jason Anthony Jolkowski of Omaha was 19 years old when he was reported missing. His whereabouts and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance are still unknown. Jolkowski's grandparents live in Grand Island, and his story was featured on the Montel Williams show in November 2004.

Ord natives Michael Wamsley and Janelle Hornickel, both 20 and of Omaha, got lost in a blizzard in rural Sarpy County in January 2005 and died from exposure to the elements before they could be found. The couple made several calls to 911 for help on Jan. 5. Massive air and ground searches were conducted in the area near Gretna. Wamsley's body was found on Jan. 6, and Hornickel's was found on Jan. 12, at a sandpit southwest of Omaha. The story was featured on ABC's "Primetime Live" in March.

Central City High School graduate Kendra Benham left friends on Feb. 4, 2005, to attend a party near the Southeast Community College-Beatrice campus, where she was a first-year student. She was reported missing on Feb. 7 when she failed to show up for classes. Air and ground searches were conducted in Gage and Jefferson counties, and her body was found on Feb. 10, along with her pickup, in a ravine in Gage County. Her death was ruled an accident.

Bradley Petersen, 28, of Grand Island was reported missing on March 13, 2005, by his wife, who hadn't seen him since he left for work the day before. Authorities tried calling his cell phone, which hit off a tower in rural Howard County. Air and ground searches were conducted, and Petersen was found in his pickup in a Howard County field. He tried to elude law enforcement by driving through fields and pastures but eventually surrendered. A small amount of methamphetamine and marijuana was found in his truck, Nebraska State Patrol Capt. Chris Kolb said.

Jennifer Zachman, 22, of Indiana was reported missing on July 8, 2005. The search for her began on July 14, when a vehicle with Indiana plates was found abandoned and out of gas in Hamilton County. A check of the license plate indicated that Zachman was driving the car. Air and ground searches were conducted in the area, but Zachman was not located. She was found alive by a motorist on Aug. 11. She had apparently been living under an Interstate 80 bridge near Grand Island for weeks.

Gerald "Jerry" Gillming, 52, of Kearney was reported missing by his family on Oct. 21 after disappearing from a rural farm pasture northwest of Gibbon. Air and ground searches were conducted on Oct. 22 and 23, and Gillming was discovered alive in Kansas on Wednesday. Gillming initially said he was abducted by three men and put on a train but later recanted the story. He returned home late Wednesday night in good physical condition. The incident remains under investigation.
Still missing

Name: Jason Anthony Jolkowski

Classification: endangered missing adult

Alias/nickname: J.J.

Date of birth: June 24, 1981

Date missing: June 13, 2001

From city/state: Omaha (His grandparents live in Grand Island.)

Age at time of disappearance: 19

Gender: male

Race: white

Height: 6 feet 1 inch

Weight: 165 pounds

Hair color: brown

Eye color: brown

Complexion: light

Clothing: White Chicago Cubs or Sammy Sosa T-shirt, black dress pants, blue Cubs cap, dress shoes and also carrying red work shirt

Circumstances of disappearance: unknown. Jason was last seen bringing in garbage cans at his residence after pickup. He was leaving to meet a co-worker at the high school only eight blocks away to get a ride to work but never arrived. He has not accessed his bank account and has not cashed checks from his employer.

Investigative agency: Omaha Police Department

Phone: Call (402) 444-5657 if you have any information that may be helpful in this case.

A Project Jason Press Release:

Students Arrange Over 1,500 Adoptions of Missing Persons


Omaha, NE, November 16, 2005--Sometimes, it seems as if there are few feel-good stories in the news about missing persons. Many of the stories covered would give the indication that there are only victims in the wake of this tragedy. These stories are viewed and often then discarded in the minds of the public. The viewers are detached from the situation, safe in their homes with their families beside them. Their involvement may end with those few seconds on the screen.

Rarely are we treated to a story that portrays hope for these left-behind families. How often do we witness someone becoming involved who has no personal tie to any missing persons or their families? This story, and the people who made it happen, accomplish both objectives: becoming involved and giving hope to the families of the missing.

In 2004, 20 year-old Danae Leali, a creative writing major at Ashland University in Ohio, heard about a unique awareness program for missing people called Adopt a Missing Person. The program is one in which photo buttons of missing persons from across the country are given to persons who wish to "adopt" that missing person, wear their button, and share their story. She, and a friend, Vanessa Wagner, were moved to take action. The two launched a campaign to get other students at the college involved. They succeeded in arranging for 432 adoptions of missing persons with students and staff at Ashland. The campaign culminated with an all day prayer vigil and remembrance for these missing persons.

Danae was not finished with the project, however. She wanted to see it expand to other schools and grow. She and Vanessa made plans to do a second campaign in 2005. They also worked behind the scenes to get other schools to participate, and in fact, just returned from a nationwide conference for residence hall associations. Vanessa stated: "These missing persons are real people, with hopes and dreams, family and friends, futures and pasts. Deep down I feel that most people want to change the world for the better and if they can start off with a simple project like this, it is one step in the right direction."

Danae's goal was to double last year's campaign number. The 2005 campaign ended with 4 participating schools and an astounding 1,511 adoptions of missing persons secured. Danae and Vanessa's campaign at Ashland University netted 1,380 adoptions. 25 adoptions were made at the University of Akron, and 106 at Loudonville High School. The Westlake High School Key Club is also participating, but with a later campaign date.

Danae had more than tripled last year's numbers, and has no intention of this being the last campaign: "That's what I want. It's beginning. Nobody really knows how far this could go...It's an important topic. It's something that's getting the media's attention, and it needs to be bigger."

On Wednesday, November 16th, Danae and Vanessa will proudly don their buttons, along with the other 1,511 persons who opened their hearts to help families they've never met, many of whom are thousands of miles away. They will hold an all day vigil at the Ashland University campus chapel, starting at 9am and culminating with a brief ceremony at 8:30pm. Giant greeting cards will be posted, one for each family of the missing, so that attendees can express their thoughts of hope. These will be sent to the families after the vigil. The press and public are invited and encouraged to attend.

The Adopt a Missing Person program was created by nonprofit organization, Project Jason, which assists families of missing persons and provides education for the public. Families of the missing provide photo buttons of their missing loved one and a personal biography, so that people all over the country can help by "adopting" their missing loved one. Adopters pledge to wear the button and share the story with others to increase the odds of location, and give hope to the families.

Kelly Jolkowski, mother of missing Jason Jolkowski, and founder of Project Jason, explains the impact of the program: "After the police have sifted through the clues in a missing person's case, and have no more leads, what the family has left is hope and awareness. The Adopt a Missing Person program enables people to be able to give these priceless gifts to the families. It helps them get through another day without their loved ones, knowing that a stranger cares. You just never know. The next person to see their face, may hold the key to unlock the mystery of their disappearance and be the catalyst that reunites a family."

To find out additional information about the Adopt a Missing Person program, please see www.projectjason.org, and click on the Adopt a Missing Person link. All of the featured missing persons on the campaign can be found on this site, along with links to additional information about these cases.


Contacts:


Danae Leali
Ashland University

Vanessa Wagner
Ashland University

Kelly Jolkowski
President and Founder
Project Jason
402-932-0095
Kelly.jolkowski@projectjason.org

Mike Block
University of Akron
Akron, OH


Rose Kerr, Teacher
Loudonville High School
Loudonville, OH

Westlake High School Key Club
Westlake, OH
Su Gao, Campaign Head

11/17/2005

http://www.wmfd.com/newsboard/single.asp?Story=21624

Ashland University's 2nd annual adopt a missing person project


Ashland University's 2nd annual adopt a missing person project was held on November 16th. About thirteen hundred students, faculty and staff members participated in the event by wearing pins with a picture of one of the twenty-four missing persons the University has adopted. A candlelight vigil was also held in the lower level of Ashland University's Memorial Chapel. Students had the opportunity to sign giant cards with messages of hope to the families of missing persons. For information on how you can get involved in the adopt a missing person project visit www.projectjason.org.

12/20/2005

An edited version from the Catholic Voice:

http://www.tcvomaha.com/


Humble Jumble Shop gives back to community


By JACLYN SCHULTE
The Catholic Voice

Humble Jumble Shop. Those words alone might draw some people into a store out of pure curiosity.

“People have more fun with the name,” said Jane LaHood, co-founder and creator of the thrift shore below Holy Name School. “They call it mumble jumbo or some other form of the name, we thought that it kind of fit where we were.”

The store, open since 1986, was the brainchild of Jane LaHood and her husband, Tom, after one of Holy Name’s annual festivals. “We always did the white elephant market and the gym would be full of stuff,” said LaHood. “Then after two days of the festival we had to come up with something to do with all the stuff.”

And so Humble Jumble was born.

Donations to the store come from parishioners, school alumni and people in the community. Items in the store range from clothing to dining room sets, dishes to baby carriages. “We have had one of everything I think,” LaHood said.

The store also takes pride in giving back to the community through donations and by allowing community and parish organizations – such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, parish choir and religious education – to run the store each Saturday. The groups keep all the money they take in, LaHood said. “We like to help other organizations with their projects, too,” she said.

Christmas items donated throughout the year are held until Christmastime arrives and are featured in a special Christmas room. Money generated by the sale of the items in the Christmas room is used for a special Christmas project, LaHood said. Proceeds from this year’s Christmas room will go to Project Jason, an organization created by a Holy Name family whose son has been missing since 2001.

The nearly 30 volunteers, most at least 70 years old, can attest to the love, commitment and dedication many feel towards the shop.

“We are all here because we are members of the same faith community and we are bonded through our common beliefs,” said Rosemary Holeman, a volunteer in the shop. “Our church is not only the building; it is the people around us.”

“Sometimes we grumble about coming into work, but it is a happy grumble,” said volunteer Joan Millington.

A happy grumble? It somehow seems appropriate at a place called the Humble Jumble Shop.

1/17/2005

We're pleased for Lorne's & James' families that they were one of several featured missing adults in this Boston Globe article. This is great media coverage for them and the other mentally ill missing adult males who are ignored by the media.

Both Lorne's and James' stories were found by the reporter on the Project Jason Voice for the Missing blog. He then made contact with the families. This personally makes me happy because the reason I started the blog was out of frustration at these cases being ignored by the media over and over again. We are finally heard!

Michael Jarvi, Patrick Bowman, and Michael Hogan have also been featured on the blog and/or on our awareness programs.

We want to thank the reporter, Scott Allen, for his care of concern in doing the story. He was quite sincere in his compassion. May the story bring the needed answers for these families.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/hea...01/16/missing/

Missing

Thousands of mentally ill people vanish every year, barely noticed except by families and friends

By Scott Allen, Globe Staff | January 16, 2006

Lorne Boulet Jr.'s disappearance came without warning. The childlike, schizophrenic man left his New Hampshire home for a walk one summer afternoon more than four years ago and simply never returned.

James Rowe veered between giddiness and sobs in his last phone conversation with his sister as he described the way a July 2004 conference on personal growth had changed him. Over the next few days, the Colorado restaurant owner abandoned his vehicle, shaved his head, and walked into the woods -- and his family hasn't heard from him since.

Michael Hogan, a shy man with obsessive compulsive disorder, left his job in Vermont one day, saying he needed to be alone. Eight months later, his mother is still so convinced he will call that she's left this message on her answering machine: ''Michael, if this is you, please let me know how I can contact you. . . . I miss you so much."

Boulet, Rowe, and Hogan are among thousands of mentally ill men and women who disappear each year -- barely noticed outside of their families and a clutch of organizations devoted to keeping their hopes alive. Their advocates believe that most of the 8,000 missing adults listed by the FBI as ''endangered" or ''disabled" suffer from some kind of mental illness and may have experienced a psychological break with reality that prompts them to abandon their former lives or attempt suicide.

The missing tend to be men, and their mental health problems run the gamut from sudden breakdowns in the face of adversity to chronic illnesses such as schizophrenia, which can cause delusions or feelings of paranoia. Bipolar disorder, which causes wide mood swings, also accounts for some of the disappearances; its victims follow unpredictable impulses.

PHOTO GALLERY: Missing and mentally ill

''Usually there is some sort of inner logic" when people with mental illness flee, ''even though it seems strange to other people," said Dr. Dost Ongur, director of the schizophrenia and bipolar disorder program at McLean Hospital. ''They might say they need to enroll in the armed services because they really need to go to Iraq to help America when everybody else says, 'You're 65 and you've got a bad back. It doesn't sound like a good idea.' "

The disappearance of an adult -- especially a man -- doesn't usually trigger the intensive communitywide searches that law enforcement agencies launch for missing children. Their disappearance doesn't automatically stir fears of foul play, so police are sometimes slow to investigate thoroughly. And adults can legally leave their lives behind, even if they are not thinking clearly.

''An adult has the right to be missing," said Roy Weise, senior adviser at the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services, which maintains the national list of missing people. ''The wife may think he's missing, but he may be right where he wants to be." Hospitals and homeless shelters, which often house mentally ill people, are caught in a bind, too, needing to protect clients' privacy when desperate loved ones inquire about them. ''If a family member calls me up and says, 'I'm looking for my brother,' we will get a message to that person," said John Yazwinski of Father Bill's Place homeless shelter in Quincy. But, he adds, it's up to the shelter resident whether to respond.

As a result, family members can feel like they're carrying out the search by themselves, circulating ''missing" flyers, maintaining websites, raising reward money, and passing along tips to law enforcement officials.

Louise Holmburg of Bristol, N.H., has turned her van into a traveling billboard about her nephew Boulet, complete with his picture on the side and an e-mail address (findlorne@yahoo.com) for tips. She said people often assume that because Boulet is 25 and weighs more than 200 pounds, he can take care of himself, but ''he's a kid at heart. . . . My best guess would be that his mind got the best of him and he walked away."

Holmburg, like other relatives of missing people with mental illness, is bitter at the lack of public interest compared with the intense focus on sensational cases like ''runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks, who initially claimed she had been abducted before admitting she fled because of anxiety about her wedding.

Officials at Project Jason, a Nebraska organization that spotlights missing people, said the media have covered only one of their last seven press releases about a missing adult, most of whom have mental illness.

Once mentally ill people leave their home area, advocates say, they're unlikely to be located unless police stop them by chance and run their name through the FBI's National Criminal Information Center, which has a list of missing people that is available only to law enforcement agencies.

The private National Center for Missing Adults maintains the most extensive publicly available list (www.theyaremissed.org), but its site includes only about 1,173 names, and only a fraction of those are mentally ill.

''Not only is it like looking for a needle in a haystack, but there's a million haystacks and you're blindfolded," said Kelly Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason (www.projectjason.org), named after her 19-year-old son, who did not have a history of mental illness but disappeared from his Nebraska driveway in 2001. ''There really aren't a lot of resources for missing adults."

Many families get discouraged about the lack of progress -- and even interest -- in finding their loved one. People who have been diagnosed with mental illness are likely to be off their medications, making them more unpredictable as the weeks drag on -- and more likely to hurt themselves. Up to 40 percent of people with schizophrenia attempt suicide at some point, and people with major mental illnesses are more likely to abuse drugs, putting their safety further at risk.

James Bowman of Kiamesha Lake, N.Y., suspects that his son is dead, a year and a half after he left their home in the middle of the night. Patrick Bowman, who would now be 47, suffers from bipolar disorder, which subjected him to wide and unpredictable mood swings, his father said, a problem made worse by a cocaine addiction.

''Whatever happened to him is limited only by your imagination," said the elder Bowman. ''The only thing I want is that he's not suffering."

FBI officials said the situation for families is far from hopeless. Law enforcement agencies check their database 5 million times daily, including for routine background checks of people stopped for traffic violations. Agency officials estimate that police checks of the FBI list helped in the recovery of 50,000 missing adults and children last year, though only a small fraction of that number were mentally ill adults.

Police say they take the disappearance of adults very seriously when there are doubts about the person's safety. For instance, Corpus Christi, Texas, police conducted helicopter searches of a remote beach last month where a depressed man abandoned his car after leaving a suicide note. Samuel Young Chong had dropped out of college without telling his parents, who apparently triggered Chong's disappearance when they came for what they believed would be his graduation.

Mike Walsh, commander of criminal investigations for the Corpus Christi police, said, ''We were expecting, based on the rhetoric, that we were going to find a body. Instead, police ultimately traced Chong to Los Angeles, allowing a relative to find him at an Internet cafe there and persuade him to return home.

But for every missing person like Chong, whose case has a happy ending, there are many more like Michael Jarvi of Naselle, Wash., a man with schizophrenia last seen before he abandoned his Ford Escort in an Oregon trailer park in March 2002. His parents received word from a DVD club recently that Jarvi's membership has been paid through April 2005, suggesting that he's still alive, but most of the other supposed tips have gone nowhere.

''How do you even guess where he is?" said Jarvi's father, James Jarvi. ''Every day you think about it, but you've just got to hope for the best."