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>>> June 13, 2002 They
were here A tallying of children under the care of Florida’s child welfare agency has revealed almost 1,000 young ’uns seem to be missing. The announcement came after Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the Florida Department of Children to check up on all 46,403 children falling under its jurisdiction-a response to the department’s admission that they had gone 15 months unable to account for five-year-old Rilya Wilson. “As soon as any kid we think is missing, we’re notifying law enforcement,” lucidly explained department assistant secretary Larry Pintacuda, which leaves some questioning why the Department of Law Enforcement has only 155 such reports from the FDC. Pintacuda
broke down the figures to 401 runaways, 135 taken by non-custodial parents
or relatives, 421 believed to have relocated out of state, and 10 missing
because their listed addresses had changed or they were away on vacation.
He explained the number of runaways shouldn’t alarm people because
“kids come and they go.” : -Scott
Saxon |