By Misty Shultz/Staff Writer
First Lady Laura Bush recalled Wednesday the story of Alvarado 2-year-old Kevin Brown while speaking in Austin on the need for the new Texas regional office of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Brown was playing outside with his 4-year-old brother in September when his brother was attacked by fire ants. While Brown’s father was nursing his older brother’s ant bites, the boy wandered away.
“Throughout the evening, the sheriff’s office, the FBI and volunteers searched the area,” Bush said. “They used horses, ATVs, K-9 units and divers, but they still couldn’t find Kevin.”
Bush then said two consultants from the National Center Team Adams — rapid-response teams composed of retired law enforcement experts who assist local and state investigators — came to assist in the search. Ponds were drained, and county roads were searched in a three-mile radius around Brown’s home, she said.
After three days of searching, a Texas Department of Public Safety air crew spotted something yellow and located Brown lying on his stomach drinking from a stock tank nine-tenths of a mile from his house.
“This little boy endured three days of severe storms and Texas heat topping 100 degrees,” Bush said. “But because of determined efforts of more than 20 agencies, including U.S. marshals, local law enforcement, the Salvation Army, a nearby church and the national center, Kevin’s life was saved.”
She went on to say the resources provided by Austin’s regional National Center for Missing and Exploited Children office will allow it “to coordinate more successful rescues and protect other vulnerable children like Kevin.”
Bush said 850,000 children are reported missing every year in the United States, with 60,000 of the cases being in Texas.
The new regional center will serve as a hub to manage cases throughout the southwest region and will also work to resolve the number of cross-border abductions, she said.
Bush also said the national center will use the Texas office to coordinate regional efforts to reunite families in the aftermath of a disaster.
During Hurricane Katrina, “the national center worked day and night to reunite families that were separated by the hurricanes,” Bush said. “Of the more than 5,000 children who were initially reported missing, every single case was resolved.”
The national center will also work with the government and nonprofits to help prevent the online exploitation of children, Bush said. She said the center would work with the Justice Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force to educate parents and children about Internet safety.
“With the help of the task force members, federal prosecution of child pornography and abuse has increased from 350 cases in 1999 to more than 1,400 in 2005,” Bush said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was established in 1981 by Florida residents Reve and John Walsh after their 6-year-old son was kidnapped from a department store and found murdered a few days later. After the tragedy, the Walshes made the decision to form a nationwide network to assist families in recovering their missing children.
The national center establishes programs that will help keep children safe.
“Through Amber Alerts, all Americans who watch TV or listen to the radio or see the special highway signs can help locate missing children,” Bush said. “So far, Amber Alerts have saved more than 300 young lives in the United States.”
The center has also worked with other countries to develop an International Center for Missing and Exploited Children that will work across borders to make sure children are reunited with their families, Bush said.
Misty Shultz can be reached at 817-645-2441, ext. 2336,
or reporter2@trcle.com.
