Meet the people who respond when a child goes missing
Fawn Landay has been in law enforcement for more than 25 years. During that time, she worked on countless cases involving missing children. She remembers all of them: The vast majority who are found safe and reunited with loved ones. And one who wasn't.
Landay, a lieutenant with the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, oversees the agency's Child Abduction Response Team (CART), which recently became just the second group in New Jersey to earn a national certification from the U.S. Dept. of Justice. She and the 225-member CART — whose members come from 37 law enforcement agencies and police departments across Camden County — accepted the recognition after an intensive process that included hours of training and a mock full-scale activation in October under the watchful eye of observers from Fox Valley Technical College in Wisconsin, a National Criminal Justice Training Center.
Derek VanLuchene, a Montana native who presented the certificate, said the certification shows the team "that children in this county are safer as a result of you and your work." He recalled how his own brother disappeared from his family's backyard in 1987; the boy, just 8, was later found murdered by a man who'd just gotten out of jail for sexually assaulting another boy.
It took police 6 hours to respond after Ryan VanLuchene went missing, and his brother, 17 when it happened, has made it his life's mission to prevent other families from experiencing the nightmare he endured.
"They say it takes a village to raise a child," Landay said at the ceremony. "Well, so does finding one."
The day before, she talked to the Courier-Post about that village, its training and its work.
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Landay grew up in Pennsauken (she lives now in Haddonfield) and has spent much of her career working to protect the innocent and vulnerable. One of her first assignments in law enforcement was walking Admiral Wilson Boulevard undercover, helping arrest johns and others who exploited women. She spent years working in child abuse and special victims units.
"This is important work," she said at her office at the Child Advocacy Center in Camden. The detectives, forensic nurses, child advocates and even the administrative assistants who transcribe interviews see and hear "the worst of the worst," putting the victim's welfare above everything else, she said.
When a child is missing — whether by abduction, running away, luring, or in a custody dispute — Landay and her team assess the situation with the help of local police: How old is the child? Could they be with someone else or did they wander off alone? What is the area where the child might be? Could they be on foot or in a vehicle? Are there woods or is it an urbanized area? How many people are needed to cover the ground? Should dogs be brought in? Helicopters? Sometimes social media and news media alerts are enough; sometimes, an Amber alert is needed (though, she explained, certain criteria have to be met for the latter).
A lot depends on the person who's missing and the circumstances, she explained. CART members come from state and local police departments, EMTs, volunteers, Office of Emergency Management and Land Search and Rescue teams.
"These are some of the best," the mother of three grown children said. "If one of my kids was missing, they're the people I would want looking for them."
Landay said there are a lot of misconceptions about their work, including the idea that a certain amount of time has to pass before someone can be reported missing.
"Call the police, the sooner the better. Every minute matters," she explained. "They can determine the necessary response, depending on the person and the situation."
She remembered one of the most extensive — and ultimately heartbreaking — searches: Brendan Creato, just 3 years old, was reported missing by his father at 6 a.m. on an October morning in 2015. Searchers canvassed the area around David Creato Jr.'s Haddon Township apartment but the boy's body was found three hours later. (Two years later, David Creato pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter before his second trial began.)
"We have to work rapidly and efficiently," Landay explained. Finding the child takes priority, but there are other concerns, too: If there's any possibility of foul play, they have to make sure to preserve possible evidence, observe the behavior of anyone who may have come into contact with the missing person, and be able to build a case if necessary.
"It's one team, one mission: The safe recovery of that child."
Phaedra Trethan has been a reporter and editor in South Jersey since 2007 and has called the region home since 1971. Contact her at ptrethan@gannettnj.com, on Twitter @wordsbyPhaedra, or by phone at 856.486-2417.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: NJ Child Abduction Response Team earns certification from DOJ
