[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 68 (Thursday, May 17, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          WELCOME HOME MARISSA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 17, 2001

  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate 
a team of individuals who worked together to recover a missing child.
  Marissa Meuse was a year old when her noncustodial father abducted 
her from Florida in October 2000. Posters of Marissa and her father 
were created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 
and distributed around the country. On March 22, 2001, Alberta Morris 
and Glenda Kay Thomas recognized pictures of Marissa and her father on 
a NCMEC poster displayed on the bulletin board in a Wal-Mart store in 
Ada, Oklahoma. The witnesses remembered that they had seen the little 
girl and her father earlier at a local laundromat. The poster indicated 
a felony warrant had been filed for the father and that the case was 
being handled by the Haverhill, Massachusetts Police Department in 
Haverhill and Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston. The witnesses 
alerted authorities in Ada, Oklahoma and then proceeded to call a lead 
into NCMEC's hotline. The witnesses stated that the child was going by 
the name of Camille. Law Enforcement responded and after a short 
investigation were able to locate Marissa and her father living in a 
house in Ada, Oklahoma.
  On March 23, Marissa was reunited with her searching mother thanks to 
these two Ada, Oklahoma, Wal-Mart shoppers. This successful recovery, 
part of Wal-Mart's Missing Children's Network, was the 50th for Wal-
Mart in the six years since it began to feature missing child images in 
their store lobbies.
  This morning I'd like to recognize individuals from Wal-Mart, Ernie 
Allen, the President and CEO of the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children, Alberta Morris and Glenda Kay Thomas, and 
especially Susan Pane, Marissa's mother, and Marissa herself. The 
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has found that one out 
of every six children featured in is photo distribution program is 
recovered as a direct result of someone in the public recognizing the 
image and reporting to authorities. NCMEC's annual May campaign, 
Picture Them Home, is a reminder to the public to look at missing child 
flyers. This recovery is an example of how taking the time to look at a 
child's face can lead to a happy ending.
  Again, congratulations to all involved and welcome home to Marissa.

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