Washington's Missing Persons Toolbox

On December 17, 2004, then-Attorney General Christine Gregoire issued a press release which contained this paragraph:

More than 300 police organizations across Washington today were mailed a missing-persons “toolbox” containing a model police policy for handling missing-person cases and a booklet to aid those whose friends or loved ones have disappeared. The packet also includes information from the Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit, and a DVD developed by the Seattle Police Department to train law enforcement officers in the handling of missing-person investigations.

In addition to placing a post entitled “Your Loved One Is Missing!!!” on the Whitecaps weblog on December 17, I also sent an e-mail to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office asking if any Idaho law enforcement agencies had requested the “Missing Persons Toolbox” sent to more than 300 police organizations in Washington.

On February 3, 2004, I received a letter dated January 31, 2005, from Marion Portenier, Administrative Office Manager for J. Scott Blonien, Sr. Assistant Attorney General, Division Chief, Criminal Justice Division. The letter in response to my e-mail stated in part:

To date we have received no requests from Idaho law enforcement agencies for our “Missing Persons Toolbox.” Should they wish to receive one, they need only contact me at the address above (Attorney General of Washington, PO Box 40116, Olympia, WA 98504-0116), and I would be happy to provide them with one.

In last year's legislature, Washington State Representative Al O'Brien (D - Mountlake Terrace) introduced legislation calling for stricter police practices in handling police reports. On January 3, 2005, I sent an e-mail to Representative O'Brien asking if anyone from Idaho's legislature, the Idaho Attorney General's Office, or Idaho law enforcement had asked him for a copy of his proposed legislation. On January 4, 2005, he replied:

Not that I know of, Bill. I’m working with the Attorney General’s Office on this issue. They sent questionnaires to 300 police agencies in this state requesting input regarding the investigation of Missing Adults. They compiled a Best Practices brochure and sent it out to all agencies. I will follow-up on this during the coming session.

Missing persons cases did not attract much law enforcement attention in Washington State until the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran its series of articles entitled Without a Trace.I had hoped that the extensive news media attention, the Attorney General's response in Washington State, and the proposed legislation by Representative O'Brien might generate some interest among Idaho's law enforcement and legislative communities to evaluate Idaho's missing persons investigations procedures so that missing persons would not become homicide victims as Carissa Benway did. Apparently, there was no such interest.