The 2012 Everyday Hero Award program will launch soon so check out the winners from last year and maybe you can be a winner too!

25 Jun 2012Investigative Insights

Background of Hero Award Program:

Three customers from the Thomson Reuters Fraud Prevention & Investigations business were selected as winners of the first-ever Hero Award in 2011 for their submissions of compelling success stories brought about through the use of one of Thomson Reuters public records search products: CLEAR, Westlaw PeopleMap or Batch Services.  The Hero Award recognizes how these products promote societal good and the rule of law.

Submissions were sought in three areas:  Government and Law Enforcement, Law Firm, and Corporate.  The prizes were given in the form of a $10,000 charitable donation on behalf of each winner to an approved Hero Award-sponsored charity.

The winner in the Corporate category of the 2011 Hero Award was the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for its use of CLEAR to help locate a missing child in New Orleans, eight years after she first disappeared from her home in Las Vegas.  The charitable donation was made to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Winning Story of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children:

8 year investigation closed after missing child was located using CLEAR.

As a direct result of the information CLEAR provided to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a child missing since 2002 was located and the 8-year investigation came to a successful close.

In November 2002, a 15-year-old child was last seen in Las Vegas, NV. The child and her mother were homeless and the child was permitted to live with a family friend. When the mother went to visit in November 2002, she discovered that the family friend had packed up her home and moved with the child. At this time, the mother reported the child as missing. In June 2005, there was a house fire in Arizona at the residence of the family friend. When firefighters responded, they rescued the family friend and her grandsons, but there was no mention of the missing child. In 2007, there was another fire at the family friend’s house where it was then discovered that she and her husband were severely abusing their grandsons. At this time, the grandsons mentioned the missing child. Law enforcement conducted additional interviews with the family friend who said she did bring the missing child with her to Arizona but that she then through her out of the house.

In 2008, law enforcement contacted the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to assist in locating this missing child. NCMEC facilitated in collecting familial DNA, but no matches were found when it was compared to Jane Does. The Case Analysis Unit (CAU) also searched for the missing child using public records databases, social networking sites and many other resources. In July 2009, the Analyst uncovered an ID card for the missing child in New Orleans, LA. Law enforcement had an officer respond to the address on the ID card but found that it was a motel and that the missing child was not currently residing there.

In March 2010, the Analyst conducted another public records search for the missing child and located a new New Orleans address which only surfaced in CLEAR. After further research, it was found that the address was associated with a homeless shelter. The child’s new address information was provided to law enforcement who responded and discovered that the missing child was living at the shelter with two children she had given birth to since her disappearance in November 2002. Law enforcement confirmed her identity and welfare. As a direct result of the address found in CLEAR, the child was located and the 8-year missing child investigation was finally closed.

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Read more 2011 winning stories and stay tuned for more details on the 2012 Everyday Hero Award program…