JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Yellow roses lined Jacksonville’s City Hall on Friday in honor of the people missing from our area.
Project Cold Case focused on an especially vulnerable group, missing adults.
“There’s still that gap for these older cases, particularly where that technology didn’t exist and where they’ve kind of fallen out of public eye. And this is an opportunity to bring them back into the public eye,” said founder Ryan Backmann.
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On top of connecting families of missing loved ones with each other and offering support, the organization wants to educate the public on long-term missing persons cases that can affect families.
Just ask Wilveria Sanders. Her then 25-year-old brother, Shelton, disappeared from South Carolina in 2001— a quarter century ago.
“One of the hardest realities is that missing adults are not always treated with the same urgency as missing children. People make assumptions. They think the person left willingly,” said Sanders.
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Project Cold Case wants to take a more inclusive approach.
“There’s a responsibility amongst all of us to make sure that we’re not only focusing on one demographic, one age range, one gender, one race. There’s families connected with every single one of these people,” said Backmann.
Long after the headlines fade, it’s important that families know how to keep the word out for their missing loved ones.
“Flyers, keep them simple and consistent. Yard signs keep their faces visible in the community,” said Sanders. “Social media pages post consistently and encourage sharing,” she continued.
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