Our experience is that Wal-Mart is a company that cares about the community it serves and is willing to put itself on the line with major issues, not the least of which is bringing missing children home. |
Overwhelmingly, they're male, and overwhelmingly, they're white. But they cross the societal spectrum. |
People say it's crazy, but I don't think it is. If we can eliminate the credit-card use, the third-party payments, or any of the illegal mechanisms, we can make it a whole lot harder. |
So many children in this situation were not able to tell us or social services who they are and where they lived and what their mom's name was. |
So much of what we've done started in Louisville. |
Some ? a very small percentage, we believe ? did not survive the storm. A larger number are kids who are probably with mom or dad or grandma, but other family members don't know where they are. We think they're safe, they just haven't been in touch with the rest of the family yet. |
The people at the shelter had no idea whether the parents were alive or dead, |
The person with whom they may be interacting may not be who they say they are. |
The vast majority of the cases in our judgment are what we would call 'fractured families,' |
There has been a trend of organized crime moving away from traditional commodities like drugs, tobacco, and arms, to kids. They are reusable, inexpensive, with a huge consumer market that is enormously profitable with next to no risk. Nobody cares. Nobody is looking for them. They are the forgotten. |
There is a greater and greater demand for younger and younger kids. America doesn't look. People are shocked and horrified when they hear these girls' stories. They say, 'That doesn't happen here. It happens in Thailand. Or the Philippines.' But once you start shining a light on it, you find it everywhere. |
They're not missing in the traditional sense. |
This (bust) is a very significant event. The multinational approach was really important. |
This is a growing problem, and America needs to wake up to it and do more. |
This is a massive problem, and the numbers are growing, ... We know there will not be a positive ending in some of these cases. We hope the number is as small as possible. Meanwhile, we're working under the assumption that these children are out there. |