Things Can Change in an Instant!

Things were going swimmingly today until about an hour or so after I got home!   Erica (our 13 year old) was to go from the Middle/High school to the Elementary School to help with the elementary program and then walk to our store at 5 p.m.  Unfortunately, we had a bit of a communication problem.  As I'm not in the proper frame of mind to deal with this again tonight, I'll simply post a copy of the "Letter to the Editor" that I wrote and sent to our local paper.   That should give a good idea of what we went through tonight.  

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all of this and work through my feelings, as is Greg.     Maybe tomorrow, I'll be able to see things more clearly.

Dear Editor:

There has to be a better way.  A better way to contact the Colby/Abby Police Department "after hours," that is!  Today (November 6, 2007, at about 5:50 p.m., I was unfortunate enough to need the help of the Colby/Abby Police Department.  When I called the local number, the call was answered by Clark County Dispatch.  Not a problem, . . . or so I thought.  I advised the officer that our 13 year old daughter was supposed to have walked to our store in the mall after helping out at the "after school" program at the Abbotsford elementary school ended at 5 p.m. and was missing.  I wanted to speak to the Colby/Abby police so that we could immediately start a search for my 13 year old.  Visions of the worst and Amber Alerts were floating through my head.  

The Clark County Sheriff's Department advised that we needed to talk to Marathon County because we live in Marathon County (8 miles east of Abbotsford).  When I explained that my daughter was missing from the ABBOTSFORD Elementary School and I needed a Colby/Abby officer, he stated that he'd send an officer to our store to talk to my husband.  Ten minutes later, as I'm speeding back to town to look for my daughter and talk to the local police, I received a call on my cell phone from the Marathon County Sheriff's Department.  Again, I explained that my daughter was missing from Abbotsford and I needed to speak to the Colby/Abby Police immediately.  She put me on hold and contacted the Clark County Sheriff.  Finally I was advised that they (Marathon County) would take the "report," because I live in Marathon County.  We were frantic that something horrible had happened to our daughter and neither Sheriff's Department seemed to care as they were too busy arguing over which department should be helping me!  Not only that, but the Marathon County Sheriff's Department seemed to think that we were dealing with a runaway or that we had a fight with our daughter and she refused to come home.  It didn't register with either department that our daughter was MISSING. 

While on hold with Marathon County, my daughter called me and I advised the dispatcher that I had my daughter and everything was fine.  Due to a lack of communication in our family, we did not know that she was staying at the school until 6 p.m.   There was no one at the school to answer the phone to find out if our daughter was still there and unfortunately, calls to our daughter's "friends" at the school were unhelpful.  Certainly, we need to improve communication in our family and this was a valuable lesson to us.  Unfortunately, a BIG part of that lesson was not to count on the Clark OR Marathon County Sheriff's departments for help!  

There's absolutely no excuse for the runaround we received by the two Sheriff's Departments.  In a town as small as Abbotsford, I don't understand why Clark County did not/would not immediately dispatch an officer to our store in Abbotsford where my husband was waiting.  That's a problem.  A BIG problem.  To receive the runaround I did from not only Clark County but also Marathon County, and to not take a missing child seriously scares the hell out of me!  

The big question is this:  What difference does it make where we live?  What if we still lived in Milwaukee and were just visiting Abbotsford when my daughter disappeared?  Would I then be transferred to the City of Milwaukee Police Department?  After this, I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what happened!  I certainly hope anyone living outside Clark County doesn't have a problem requiring police assistance in Abbotsford after 5 p.m.!  

Julie Miklaszewicz, OwnerRVing Outpost, LLC

*This letter is NOT in any way directed at the Colby/Abby police department as they had no knowledge of this incident as it was happening.

One of the things that REALLY got to me was Abby saying "I hope she's OK.  After all, she's my big sister!"   Considering how our kids fight with each other, that just about made me collapse . . .  Even though they fight like cats and dogs, deep down, they really DO love each other!    I guess we're doing something right, after all!  

Thank you, dear Jesus, for keeping our daughter safe!  

Julie