On Saturday May 10th Lewis County 911 held a candlelight remembrance ceremony in observance of all of the children still missing around the United States and in conjunction with National Missing Children's Month in Lewis County. Each of the 97 children listed as missing from Washington State had their name on a luminaria bag. These 97 missing date all the way back to 1968 and are a fraction of the approx. 800,000 listed as missing by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Commissioner Edna Fund spoke passionately about our need as a community and as a nation to keep this issue in the forefront of our minds and to be vigilant in taking steps to prevent further children from going missing and being exploited.
Kayla Croft-Payne’s name is represented on a luminaria bag. Kayla has been missing from Lewis County since April 20th, 2010.
Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund speaks about our need as a community and as a nation to keep missing children in the forefront of our minds and to be vigilant in taking steps to prevent further children from going missing and being exploited.
Luminaria bags surround the entrance to Chehalis Library. 97 bags are labeled with the names of children listed as missing from Washington State dating all the way back to 1968. Hundreds of others are labeled National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s logo. The 97 from Washington State only a fraction of the approx. 800,000 children listed as missing by NCMEC.
