Missing in Plain Sight

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – You see them all the time. They are posters showing someone’s face, age, eye and hair color along with other important details like where they were last seen.

But when you pass by a missing person’s poster, do the images and the information really register in your mind? Or do you just pass by, glance and go on with your business?

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children sees missing posters as a key to bringing a child home.

The organization, which posts on its Web site flyers of hundreds of people who are missing, states that over 350 people have been recovered due to posters that have been posted in Wal-Mart stores.

“We get a lot of leads. People see the poster and give us something for us to look into,” said Rachel Johnston.

But the posters certainly do not guarantee success. Many people simply overlook them. While others may see a missing person flyer, then second guess themselves if they spot someone who looks like the person in the poster.

Johnston said, “I think people are scared to get involved. I think they don’t want to impose themselves.”

But the Center for Missing and Exploited Children always underscores the importance that everyone be aware of their surroundings.

“It is their responsibility I think to question situations and question people. No one is going to be offended if you draw attention and say is this possibly you,” Johnston added.

The Importance of Posters

No one understands the importance of a missing person’s flyer than the family trying desperately to find a loved one.

“The posters, I think they’ve helped a lot especially to start with,” Harold Leach said while choking back tears as he talked about his missing son.

The missing poster detailing Randy Leach is well known to many people in eastern Kansas.

The 17 year old was last seen at a party in West Bonner Springs with dozens of teenagers there. Harold and his wife Alberta woke the morning of April 16, 1988, to see their son had not come home overnight. In the days, weeks and years to follow, the family distributed thousands of missing posters.

But after 20 years, Harold and Alberta are not any closer to knowing their son’s whereabouts. But the getting the word out by using the posters gives them hope.

“We have to keep the hope up," Alberta said.

“We had truck drivers taking them all over the United States when this happened… really helped," Harold added.

Both say even though their son’s case is now 20 years old, they continue to distribute a few flyers each year.

The Hidden Test

To find out how attentive people can be with missing person’s posters, the NBC Action News Investigators set up a test.

With the help of two producers and a 13-year old girl named Mallory, we created missing persons posters. We put up the posters on light poles and bulletin boards around three busy areas across the metro.

The first location was at 11th and Main streets in downtown Kansas City. The second location was at Wescoe Hall at the University of Kansas and the third at Crown Center by the fountains.

Next, we had the person photographed in the poster walk into the area and wait for one hour to see who, if anyone, happened to notice them. The results were surprising.

The Results: Are you missing?

Location 1

At the 11th and Main streets location, a crowd of people walked through the busy intersection over the lunch hour.

Many walked back to their offices to work. Others waited to hop on the city buses which stop here on a regular basis.

Person after person walked by the missing posters that were taped to the light poles and bus stops in this one intersection. At one point, one man approached the person on the poster, our producer Elyna, who sat right out in the open next to a city fountain.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Elyna,” she responded.

“Elyna, I’m Albert. It’s nice to meet you,” as he extended his hand to shake hers.

Turns out, this man did not recognize Elyna from the poster. He simply wanted to pay her a compliment.

“I like your hair style,” he said.

In fact, out of all the people who passed by Elyna during the hour she sat outside, no one approached her to see if she needed help.

Location 2

At the location on the University of Kansas, students wearing sweats, back packs and iPods walked to and from classes at Wescoe Hall.

Many made time to stop and chat with their friends in this busy part of campus. Mixed into the crowd were posters telling students that a woman named Katrina is missing.

The picture on the poster shows she has brown hair and is pregnant. But when the real Katrina walked through the crowd, only two people walked up to her during the hour and asked if she was the woman in the missing poster.

“We walked by and I said ‘That looks like the lady who’s missing.’ But you looked like you were doing okay,” said one man.

Another woman told us she thought it was unusual to see a missing person poster on the KU campus. That was what caught her eye at first. “I looked at the sign again. I saw her standing there and I looked at the sign because I recognized her. It fit perfectly so I asked her, ‘Is this you? Are you missing?’” said Brea Buchanan, a KU Junior originally from Olathe.

Location 3

Perhaps the most surprising results happened outside Crown Center near the famous fountains, a popular spot especially with children on a warm day.

On this day, the wind was strong and a chill was in the air. But that still didn’t keep the crowds away.

Many people waited in the area outside a Panera restaurant to catch the bus at the end of their work day.

Here, we blanketed the area with posters of 13-year-old Mallory. The picture shows a cute, dark haired and brown eyed girl. But when the real Mallory walked up to the bus stop where her pictures are posted, she could overhear two ladies talking about the girl in the poster.

“They were like saying stuff. They looked at me and didn’t say anything.” Mallory later told us.

The two women eventually got on the bus without ever noticing Mallory.

Finally, after 45 minutes, a man approached and told Mallory she looked like the girl in the poster. He was the only one who approached the teenager.

Advice for All of Us

Everyone needs to be aware of the posters. If you get something in the mail, don’t throw it away, take a look at it,” is the advice from Johnston.

Johnston advices every parent to have a clear, up to date picture of each child. The picture in the poster needs to be clear so strangers will not have any reason to overlook the child if they turn up missing.

For everyone, she said be aware of your surroundings. As long as someone is missing, the Center will continue to post flyers and information in an attempt to bring in more leads. 

"With the posters out there, children can know that there is someone looking for them," she added.