Candice Parchment

I got a notice from the NCMEC saying Candice Nekoya Parchment had been found deceased. She was 15 when disappeared from Forest Park, Georgia on April 28, 2010. She was classified as a runaway. Well, I did my usual Google search and discovered Candice’s body was actually found in DECEMBER. No word on the cause of death and whether it was an accident or foul play or what, but I’m guessing foul play, since her body was found under a mattress in the woods.

At first I thought maybe she wasn’t identified right away, but not so; her family buried her that same month. I don’t understand why it took so long for the NCMEC to send a notice. A mistake maybe? Or are they just not on the ball?

Northern Mariana Islands

I was looking at the NCMEC site today and I came across this poster for two sisters, Faloma and Maleina Luhk, age ten and nine respectively, who disappeared on May 25, 2011. Listed as non-family abductions. I was a bit confused when I saw they were missing from “Saipan, MP.” That didn’t match any state abbreviation I had heard of.

Then I figured out that “MP” was the Northern Mariana Islands, which until an hour ago I didn’t know were part of the US. (Not sure what the P stands for. Maybe it was just that NM and MI were already taken?) I have a few cases from Guam but never a case from the Northern Mariana Islands. For that matter I was barely aware of their existence until today. But if these girls are still missing come November, I’ll have not just one Northern Mariana Islands case but two.

Makes me feel kind of ashamed how ignorant I am about my own country. When I was in college I had to look it up to see if the Bahamas were their own country or a US territory like the Virgin Islands.