On Tuesday, September 16, 15-year-old Nisa Mickens and 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas were beaten to deathin the streets of Brentwood, Long Island. Police believe Kayla was targeted for kidnapping by gang members planning to use her for sex trafficking.
Rob Mickens, Nisa’s father, had dropped Nisa off at Kayla’s house to hang out at 6:30 p.m. and that was the last time he’d see his daughter alive. When Nisa’s father returned to pick her up a few hours later, the girls were nowhere to be found.
The family began searching the area for their missing children, but it was a passing motorist who spotted Nisa’s body in the street outside of Loretta Park Elementary School at 8:30 p.m.. Police discovered Kayla’s body late Wednesday afternoon in a wooded area near her home. Kayla’s cell phone was found near Nisa’s body. Investigators suspect gang members attempted to kidnap Kayla, but Nisa tried to defend her friend and fight the kidnappers off.
“My daughter is very resilient. She worries about other people before worrying about herself, “ said Nisa’s mother, Elizabeth Alvorado.
Nisa was in the eleventh grade and played basketball for her high school. Her birthday would’ve been Wednesday. She’ll be remembered by her family as a girl who gave her life trying to protect someone else’s.
A heartbroken Alvarado told ABC 7, “She hugged me before she left and thats rare for her. And she hugged me twice and I’m not thinking anything of.”
While the case of Nisa and Kayla’s murder is particularly brutal, the circumstances surrounding them are not unique. According to the FBI, human trafficking is the third-largest criminal activity in the world. It’s an industry that generates over $32 billion a year and overwhelmingly victimizes girls.
A joint study of human trafficking by the University of San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene University found there are 8,830 to 11,773 underage and adult sex trafficking victims per year in San Diego County alone. 98% of these victims were female. The study also found that victims came from all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. According toDoSomething.org, an organization aimed at young people and social change, the average age range of a teen entering the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14-years-old.
Not every case is like Nisa and Kayla’s. Even when trafficking victims escape, the damage can have long lasting effects. In a storyfiled September 15th to CBS News in Dallas, a 14-year-old girl recounted her story of being forced into prostitution. As one of the youngest girls in North Texas to ever discuss her victimization publicly, she has chosen to keep her identity a secret.
The girl says she was lured into sex trafficking after using an app called Tagged. Her soon-to-be traffickers convinced her to come hang out by offering to smoke marijuana with her. What she thought was a way to fill a bored afternoon quickly turned into a horrifying trek around Texas.
One man and two women gave the girl drugs before trying to sell her for sex online. They took her from Dallas to San Antonio to Austin all the while posting escort ads on the internet. Stuck without a car, the perpetrators told the girl she would have to prostitute herself to pay for a way back home.
“I couldn’t go nowhere. They had a car. I didn’t know where I was at,” she told CBS Fort-Worth.
“We know that statistics show about 400 underage girls in Dallas are sold each night,” Alicia Bush, the founder of a Frisco based nonprofit that work with victims of human trafficking, said in the same article.
“We’re finding out these girls need long-term residential care,” says Bush. “This is a lifelong journey of healing and that’s really what’s important to us.”
Nefarious activity will always take place when there’s money to be made and people willing to disregard the lives of others. In 2014, a report by the Urban Institute estimated that the underground sex economy ranged from $39.9 million in Denver, Colorado, to $290 million in Atlanta, Georgia. Pimps and traffickers interviewed for the study reported taking home between $5,000 and $32,833 a week.
Human greed and indifference to the suffering of others certainly played a role in the disappearance, rape, and murder of 17-year-old Britanee Drexel in 2009. Drexel, a New York native, was staying in a Myrtle Beach hotel against the wishes of her parents when she crossed paths with 16-year-old Da’Shaun Taylor.
Taylor took Drexel from Myrtle Beach to McClellanville, South Carolina. Fox News reported that FBI agent Gerrick Munoz testified in court that the FBI believes Taylor, “showed her off, introduced her to some other friends that were there…they ended up tricking her out with some of their friends, offering her to them and getting a human trafficking situation.”
Drexel’s disappearance had remained a mystery for years until a “bombshell” confession from an inmate serving a 25 year involuntary manslaughter conviction named Taquan Brown. Brown told investigators,
“He saw Da’Shaun Taylor, then 16 years old, and several other men “sexually abusing Brittanee Drexel.” Brown then said he walked to the backyard of the house to give money to Taylor’s father, Shaun Taylor. But as Brown and Shaun Taylor talked, Drexel tried to make a break for it. Her escape attempt was in vain, however, and one of the captors “pistol-whipped” Drexel and carried her back inside the house. Brown said he then heard two gunshots. The next time Brown said he saw Drexel, her body was being wrapped up and removed from the house. Drexel’s body has never been found, but Munoz said “several witnesses” have told investigators she was dumped in an unspecified McClellanville pond teeming with alligators.”
Human trafficking is a global industry that generates billions of dollars and impacts millions of people every year. Sometimes the victim is saved and returned to her mother, like in the case of the 14-year-old in Dallas. Other cases, like Brittanee Drexel’s, linger until a jailhouse confession years after the fact. And in other instances the tragedy of a case is immediately revealed, such as in the deaths of Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas.
David Schroeder, Blog Writer, Lauth Investigations International
Kimberly Ching Sullivan and her daughter, Kira Gusman, went missing after making a trip to the grocery store in Burlington, North Carolina. The pair never returned to their car. They were reported missing at 3:30am last Saturday morning by Kimberly’s wife Sherri Sullivan. Police have stated that they do not believe foul play was involved; the pair is believed to be together and not in danger. The police have given no further updates about the mother and daughter’s whereabouts.
Parental Abductions:
Stranger abductions make up the smallest portion of all reported abductions. The majority of child disappearances fall under the category of parental abductions or family kidnapping. A major study found that 203,900 kids were victims of a family abduction and only 28 percent of these abductions were reported to police. 44 percent of child abducted by a family member were under 6 years old. The report found a disparity in who participates in parental child abductions; 53 percent of family abducted children were abducted by their biological father, while only 25 percent of these children were taken by their biological mother.
Tracy Morse, the co-founder of American Parental Abductions Resource and Support Organization (APART), has previously stated, “There’s a perception in the public and among law enforcement, that when children are abducted by their parents that they’re safe, and that just isn’t true”. Parental abductions are a large problem when the statistics are taken into account; the FBI has conducted an analysis of all the child abduction cases where the motivation was known and found that parental abductions have increased from 9 percent in 2010 to 50 percent in 2012. Moreover, family abductions are generally thought of as a subcategory of disappearances and not given individual attention.
Characteristics of family abducted children:
Younger children appear to be particularly vulnerable
Older teenagers account for a small percentage of victims of family abductions
Reasons parents abduct their children:
To force reconciliation or interaction with the other parent
To punish the other parent
Out of fear of losing custody or visitation rights
Families are more at risk for parental child abductions if a parent:
Previously abducted your child
Threatened to abduct your child
Does not have strong ties to the area in which your child lives
Has friends or family members that live in another state or country
Has a history of domestic violence or child abuse
Feels alienated from the legal system
Does not have a stable job or is not financially tied to any area
Preventing Parental Child Abductions
There are simple steps parents and family members can take to decrease the risk of abduction, such as taking pictures of your child, keeping a record of your child’s SSN, seeking counseling, and notifying daycares and schools about who is allowed to pick up your child. There are greater steps parents can take to try to prevent abductions, such as obtaining custody orders that define custody and visitation rights, asking law enforcement and the appropriate authorities to step in, or flagging passport applications for your child in order to prevent the other parent from taking your child out of the country.
Preventing abductions is important because just as stranger abductions can be extremely dangerous, so can parental child abductions. The FBI listed several parental abduction cases that turned violent.
One case involved a mother without custodial rights abducting her 8-month-old son from his father. She lied and told the boy’s father that she killed the 8-month-old boy in order to prevent the father from using his custodial rights and to punish the father for being involved with another woman.
In 2012, a non-custodial father killed his seven and five year old children after he abducted them. He was allegedly angry over not being afforded sole custody of his children. An FBI analyst in the Violent Crimes Against Children Intelligence Unit has stated “In contrast to international parental child abductions, our analysis indicates that domestic custodial abductions are more likely to have violent outcomes for children”. Even though family abduction victims are perceived to be in less danger than stranger abduction victims that is not always the case and families should always report abductions to law enforcement.
Jordan Krolak and Casey Louise Danielson are both 17 years old, and both have disappeared. The girls were last seen on June 5th, almost three weeks ago. Jordan, according to her family, has had a history of running away. However, this time Jordan has been gone far longer than usual. Authorities have speculated that the two girls ran away together while working at a community event. The police department in Bemidji, Minnesota has few leads in where the girls could have gone. The surrounding counties’ police departments have been assisting with the investigation. The family has voiced fears about human trafficking; Jordan’s aunt voiced her concerns by stating, “Well, there are so many scary things out there, and with trafficking such a high risk now, it is terrifying.” Some have speculated that while the girls possibly left of their own volition, they may no longer have control of their situation.
Risks Faced By Runaway Youth
The National Runaway Safeline between 1.6 million to 2.8 million youth runaway each year in the United States alone. At least 70 percent of runaway youth are endangered on the street; younger runaways are particularly at risk for exploitation. According to several studies, one in seven youth aged 10 to 18 will run away at some point and 75 percent of runaways are female. Youth aged 12 to 17 are more at risk for homelessness than adults.
Homeless and runaway youth are at higher risk for:
− Physical abuse
− Sexual exploitation
− Mental health disabilities
− Substance abuse
− Death
Health risks associated with living on the street:
− Greater possibility of severe anxiety
− More likely to experience severe depression
− Higher rates of suicide
Reasons children run away:
− Conflict between them and a parent or guardian in the home (47%)
− Parents told them to leave or didn’t care they were leaving (>50%)
− Runaway youth reported having been sexual abuse before leaving home (34%)
− Runaway youth reported physical abuse before leaving home (43%)
Runaways and Law Enforcement
The media typically follows missing children stories closely when the child has been abducted because they are perceived as being in grave danger. However, when children go missing and are suspected of running away the media pays little attention. According to Polly Klaas Foundation, 90 percent of the children abducted by strangers are returned home safely, while runaway youth are often forgotten about by law enforcement. Typically, runaway youth are viewed as a family problem rather than a larger societal concern. Foundations such as the National Runaway Safeline and Polly Klaas Foundation want people to understand that runaway children are in danger. The law enforcement needs to take runaway youth cases more seriously in order to protect at risk youth from becoming victims of abduction, physical or emotional abuse, sexual exploitation, or human trafficking.
Find more information at: ncsl.org
Things to Keep in Mind
While a child or young adult has chosen to leave, they may not be choosing to stay away. Even if you suspect your loved one has run away still contact your local police department. Children on the street are at higher risk of exploitation and abuse. Legally police department have to begin to investigate missing children immediately.
The Committee for Missing Children, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) Charity with offices in Lawrenceville, Georgia and Langenselbold, Germany. We have offered assistance to parents who have had their children abducted or go missing both domestically or internationally for over seventeen years.
We offer both counseling and financial assistance to parents who have suffered the loss of a child through abduction. One aspect of our assistance is the actual locating of the children. To do this we may have to rely on a professional investigator who specializes in child abduction and who has the resources and knowledge to assist in locating the abductor as well as the children.
Thomas Lauth, an investigator who specializes in missing children and adults, has been one of the most reliable and imaginative investigators we have found to date. Mr. Lauth’s experience with our organization, as well as work he has done for the National Center for Missing Adults, has proven to be invaluable in the locating of abductors and bringing children and adults home.
Mr. Lauth’s impressive list of successes as well as his passion for the “left-behind parent” makes him more than qualified to work in the area of child abduction. I would not hesitate to recommend Mr. Lauth lo any parent who has lost a child. T personally feel that it is Mr. Lauth’s feelings for the children that separate him from so many other investigators.
If there is a need for additional information about Mr. Lauth or his services please feel free to contact me at 1-800-525-8204.
Thelma Thomas (second from right) of Merrillville, mother of the missing Rochelle Thomas Stubblefield, listens to investigators Friday (December 12) during a news conference seeking the public’s help in the case. -Damian Rico/Photo (The Times)
Rochelle Thomas Stubblefield of Merrillville, In. was supposed to celebrate her 21st birthday on December 25 with friends and family. She was also supposed deliver her first child on Dec. 15—a boy, who she had already decided to name “Amir”.
However, the 21-year-old went missing on Nov. 10 after attending classes early in the day and going a girls basketball game later on. Her family reported her missing on Nov. 12. Almost three months later, investigators are still unable to locate Stubblefield.
The Calumet College student was attending school on a track scholarship. Calumet College of St. Joseph is a private college that is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Stubblefield was a criminal justice student who had hopes of becoming a police officer upon graduation.
Stubblefield was proud of her school, and she was last seen wearing a maroon Calumet College sweatshirt, black jeans, and glasses.
Stubblefield’s friends and family are still desperate for answers.
“We need to find her. Help us,” Stubblefield’s cousin, Lajuaina Riley, told the Chicago Tribune in late December, “If anyone has any information, don’t be afraid.”
Police Detective George Dickerson from the Gary Police Department told reporters that investigators do have a person of interest in the case, but declined to comment further. Dickerson did say that this person is someone that Rochelle Stubblefield knows, and that the individual is not cooperating with police.
Investigators have also recovered some personal items belonging to Stubblefield, but would not comment on the location that these items were found.
“We don’t want to compromise the integrity of the investigation,” Detective Dickerson told the Chicago Tribune.
Police did say that they suspect foul play, but were unable to comment any further.
Police are asking anyone with information about the case to call (219) 755-3855 or the anonymous tip line at 866-CRIME-GP.
According to the U.S. Department of State, more than 150,000 U.S. citizens cross into the Mexican border every day. While millions of Americans SAFELY visit Mexico each year for study, tourism and business—government authorities still warn people to practice caution when visiting our neighbors to the south.
U.S. citizens have been the victims of violent crimes, such as kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery by organized criminal groups in various Mexican states—U.S. Department of State
Several years ago, Mexico’s attorney general compiled a list showing that more than 25,000 adults and children have gone missing in Mexico in the past six years, according to unpublished government documents.
In a report by Agence France Press, at least 648 American citizens were murdered in Mexico between October 2002 and December 2012. This represents more than 40 percent of the almost 1,600 American victims worldwide over the same period. Bottom line…more Americans have been murdered in Mexico than any other country in the past decade.
Recent arrest made in American’s murder
Pictured: Harry Devert (Via Help Find Harry/Facebook)
Last year, human remains found in two plastic bags near a beach in southwestern Mexico were later identified as her son, Harry Devert, 32, a New Yorker who left his job as a trader in finance for a transcontinental motorcycle journey from the United States to Latin America.
It wasn’t until several weeks ago that Mexican authorities finally made an arrest in the case. Adrian Reyes Cadena, a Mexican drug gang leader, is now charged with Devert’s murder. According to authorities, Cadena thought Devert was a U.S. agent and murdered him.
Pictured: Adrian Reyes
Divert’s gang, known by the name ‘Guerrero Guard’ and ‘El Tigre,’ is alleged to have also overseen 2013 kidnapping and disappearance of two federal police officers and kidnapping of Italian businessman in 2014.
Just last week, the father-in-law and brother-in-law of former Miss USA Ali Landry were found dead in Mexico after reportedly being kidnapped and held for ransom.
The bodies of Juan Manuel Gómez Fernández and his son, Juan Manuel Gómez Monteverde, were said to have been discovered inside a vehicle in a remote region of Veracruz.
Two family members of celebrity Ali Landry were killed last week in Mexico after being kidnapped and held for ransom. (Via alejandromonteverde77/Instagram)
The men were reportedly kidnapped while leaving their Gulf Coast home in Tampico, Tamaulipas, on Sept. 4. A ransom had been paid for their release, according to the report which cited Televisa, but the kidnappers didn’t keep their word.
At this time, authorities have not announced any arrests in the case.
Thousands of women disappearing in Mexico
Women have become the target of many crimes throughout Mexico. The state of Mexico, home to the country’s capital, is now the most dangerous place for women in Mexico. In 2014 alone, 400 women disappeared from the area.
Human rights groups and families of victims have been demanding a gender alert since 2010 amid growing evidence that the area has become the most dangerous place to be female in the country.
A shocking 1,258 girls and women were reported disappeared and at least 448 murdered in the area in 2011 and 2012, according to figures obtained by the National Citizens Observatory on Femicides.
The organization also reports that at least least six women are targeted and killed every day in Mexico. Of those, less than a quarter are investigated. Of those investigations, fewer than 2 per cent lead to a sentence.
Other Americans Missing in Mexico
John Edward Parks: Owned aquarium/pet store in Matamoros, MX, and disappeared in 2013 during the battles between the Mexican military and the Gulf Cartels and Zetas in that city, beginning on Nov.5, 2010. US Consulate has only verified that he is not in any hospital in that city or surrounding cities, and nothing more. They say they are not able to do any searching themselves but must rely on the Mexican authorities.
Roberto Muñoz and his family: In 2013, Roberto, his wife Cecilia and their grandson Armando Salinas had gone to Mexico to visit relatives over the holidays. But just as they were beginning their trip home, family members lost contact with them. Border records show that they never crossed back into the United States.
Mario Perera Riveroll: It was a routine day for labor attorney Mario Perera Riveroll, defending American companies in a civil court across the Rio Grande in a Mexican bordertown. During a courtroom break in June 27, 2006, Perera told his co-workers that he would return after copying documents in a case. Perera, a naturalized U.S. citizen, climbed into his car, then drove off — and disappeared. Neither the lawyer nor his car have been seen since.
Safety Tip for Visiting Mexico
Leave your valuables at home. Bringing them with you will make you more of a target.
Tell a relative (or a person you trust) your travel itinerary and details. Make sure they have enough details to be able to get a hold of you.
Ask at the receptionist at the hotel if there are certain parts of the city you should avoid for security reasons.
Blend in as much as possible. Take a short shopping trip and look at how people your age are dressed and try to mimic the “dress code”. If you look like a tourist it’s pretty much like yelling “rob me”.
Don’t hail for taxis, especially in Mexico City. Ask the hotel to call one for you.
Lauth Investigations and Thomas Lauth are experts in helping families locate missing loved ones.
While each missing persons case is different and results will vary, Lauth has been helping families for more than 20 years and boasts nearly an 85% success rate.
If you or someone you know need assistance, call them today at 1.800.889.FIND or 317.951.1100.
SSN, seeking counseling, and notifying daycares and schools about who is allowed to pick up your child. There are greater steps parents can take to try to prevent abductions, such as obtaining custody orders that define custody and visitation rights, asking law enforcement and the appropriate authorities to step in, or flagging passport applications for your child in order to prevent the other parent from taking your child out of the country.
