Resource Association for Missing People (RAMissingPeople or sometimes also seen as R.A.M.P.) aims to raise public awareness about missing people, while providing those affected with much needed knowledge and resources to assist in bringing their loved ones home. The pain caused by the unknown when a loved one is missing can be debilitating, and this organization hopes to ease the burden that is in
voluntarily placed on those responsible for ensuring they are found. Our goal is to be an all-encompassing resource organization directed at the families and friends of missing people. We want to provide assistance and resources while simultaneously increasing awareness of these terrible instances in the hope that more cases can be closed with more fortunate endings and above all else, the knowledge of where the missing person is. We are determined to be a dependable, knowledgeable, trustworthy support system for those affected by a missing person. This organization has evolved from the 2012 Mickey Shunick missing person campaign which took place in Lafayette, Louisiana. Throughout the campaign, the friends and family of Mickey experienced a variety of obstacles and setbacks that occur when looking for a loved one. We hope to share not only these experiences, but also the experiences of others who have undergone a missing person campaign or group, with the hope that passing on first-hand knowledge will make a drastic improvement in the outcome of future cases. The social media sites created during the Mickey Shunick campaign played a key role in the case, and since 2012 a number of the campaign’s volunteers have maintained and grown these sites. Currently the websites inspired by the Mickey Shunick campaign assist family members and loved ones of missing people in beginning and maintaining a missing person campaign, it also communicates with various search and rescue organizations, and spreads the word about missing people of all ages, backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses and locations. We have gained a fairly large and extremely passionate and supportive online community that is very concerned with sharing information and awareness about missing people, exploited individuals, and victims of violent crime. In forming RAMissingPeople we strive not only to continue growing the activities of the Mickey Shunick Campaign, but also to extend our assistance to those affected in several ways. We are in the process of conducting interviews as well as hours of research to become knowledgeable on all aspects of various types of missing person cases. We will be interviewing a variety of professionals like detectives, mental health professionals, founders and board members of nonprofit organizations, etc. The biggest project in our immediate future is a world-first website. The website will contain a feature that will be the second of its’ kind in the world (the first belongs to MPAN, see: www.missingpersonsguide.com/. For more information please see Attachment B) and will be a complete resource for anyone affected by a missing person case or those who simply wish to learn more about missing people. One of the many projects we will undertake is a missing persons’ guide for the family members and loved ones of missing people. This purports to direct and advise the loved ones on how to conduct a missing person campaign in all aspects. We will provide detailed guidance on creating flyers and posters, effective ways to raise awareness and share flyers and information, gaining community and media involvement, conducting civilian foot searches, working with the police and private investigators, and offering tips on how to best conduct one on social media sites. In addition to the steps involved in creating them, we will also address some of the trials and tribulations one may face during a campaign. One important feature of the missing persons guide will be the flyer generator. This feature will assist in creating flyers with the most important information required for missing person flyers and posters. RAMissingPeople will provide first-account knowledge of ways to inform the public of missing people (i.e. benefit concerts), as well as efficient ways to raise money in the event a loved one is missing for an extended period of time (i.e. Our plan is to create a map feature on RAMissingPeople’s website where one will be able to simply click on a location directly on the map and have the option to see nearby sex offenders, police stations, private investigators, search and rescue organizations, dog teams, hospitals, prisons and jails, media stations, as well as active missing person cases in that area. With this function, individuals will be able to acquire contact information in order to mail, call, email, or fax any of these sources. A final major feature of the website will be general information about missing people. We want to educate people on the varying definitions of a missing person and hope to show statistics, research and articles that explain the differences between a run away, an abduction case, an amber alert, a mental illness, etc. that are all grouped into the category of “missing people.” We think of it as an ‘encyclopedia of missing people’ and we plan on actively updating it throughout the years. Within this area we may sometimes cover related information like rape and abuse victims as well as victims of violent crimes. We will offer information for certain other topics like self-defense techniques in varied situations. We will also maintain social media accounts where we actively assist campaigns and help to share information about missing people. And finally, in the future we envision RAMissingPeople actively reaching out to the family members and loved ones of missing people to guide and assist them throughout their campaigns. We want to create a network and support system that people can entrust and depend on during their times of need. We also hope to extend our services internationally, via our online resources so people can use our feature to locate assistance in searching for their missing person. Our goal is to become a multimodal resource that encourages and assists all people affected by or interested in missing people. RAMissingPeople conducts all of the activities through board members, volunteers and consultants (such as the graphic designer). Most of the research is being conducted in regions of Southern Louisiana, most likely in the regions of Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. However, we are also collecting information and resources from the internet, media, and individual correspondences from all over the world. We believe our past, future, and current activities are consistent with the requirements needed to be granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service; we will provide a community service that no other organization provides and to restate, RAMissingPeople will be the first of its’ kind in the world. In creating this organization and associated products we hope to relieve some of the stress and time that is required in a missing person campaign, as well as to support those campaigns with limited resources, people, and other constraints. We also hope that by creating an interactive website and supplying people with information about missing people, it will help to raise awareness for all types of missing person cases in the future. We will also be dedicating all of our time to missing people, whether it is creating resources, personally working with campaigns and affected individuals, or learning, researching and teaching about missing people. Our professional hours will be from 9:00a.m.-5:00p.m. Monday through Friday however we will be available for contact around the clock. The activities that occurred during the Mickey Shunick Campaign were provided by community donations and subsequently from the Shunick family’s private funding. In becoming Resource Association for Missing People we anticipate our activities to continue and grow from funds received through government grants, fundraisers, and private donations. We plan on also seeking some sponsors sometime in the future. It has been discussed and determined by the board members of RAMissingPeople that all surplus monetary and physical donations or other assets we do not utilize will be donated to groups, communities, organizations and individuals or campaigns geared toward missing and exploited people at the end of each fiscal year.
