Upon the
establishment of the Nation's Missing Children Organization, Inc. (NMCO) in
1994, it was quickly determined that missing adults and their families were a
segment of the victim population that lacked adequate, vital resources. To
address this issue, NMCO expanded its charter in 1995 to become one of the few
organizations to accept cases of missing persons over the age of eighteen. Under
the revised charter, NMCO then began accepting these cases - focusing primarily
on those determined by law enforcement to be at risk due to diminished mental
capacity, physical disability, and suspicion of foul play or suspicious
circumstances. However, critical resources were still needed in order to provide
the adequate support for families and law enforcement.
In 1996
NMCO founder Kym Pasqualini set to work, with the help of families nationwide,
to advocate for the establishment of a centralized national clearinghouse for
missing adults. The goal was to obtain the support of Congress and introduce
legislation which would establish formal support and resources to help serve
this ever-growing segment of the population.
In an effort to educate
others and to encourage needed action, Robert and Deborah Modafferi shared the
painful story of their daughter’s disappearance - which resulted in North Carolina
Congresswoman, Sue Myrick, introducing "Kristen’s Act" to the U.S. House of
Representatives. For the first time, legislation was proposed to establish a
national clearinghouse and resources to assist with missing adults. The act was
named after the Modafferi's daughter, Kristen, who mysteriously vanished in June
1997 - only two weeks after her eighteenth birthday.
In October of 2000, Kristen’s Act
was passed
unanimously by the 106th United States Congress, and later signed into law by
then President William Jefferson Clinton. As a result - The National Center
for Missing Adults (NCMA) was created. Today, under the auspices of NMCO and the U.S.
Department of Justice, NCMA continues to serve as the national clearinghouse for missing adults in the United
States.
