Reply #4: More from the article: [View All]

Child advocates say the state continues to fail miserably in efforts to safeguard or return missing kids - even neglecting to register the children with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the national clearinghouse for abducted and runaway kids.

snip

Of the children currently missing from the custody of the state Department of Children and Families, more than 170 are from South Florida - 72 from Miami-Dade, 67 from Broward, 31 from Palm Beach and three from Monroe - said Zoraya Suarez, DCF's spokeswoman in Tallahassee.

The list includes children who are only infants or toddlers. Among them: one-year-old Destiny Booth, one-year-old Geraldo Duarte, two-year-old Angelica Rodriguez, 18-month-old Sheena Ruiz-Lopez-Meeks, two-year-old Mackenzie Spears-Bennett, one-year-old Noah Samuel Varble-Rhoads and one-year-old Louanne Wise.

The list also includes scores of "endangered" teenaged runaways, such as 17-year-old Brandee A. Adams of Naples, 16-year-old Jessica Dumas-Shore of Shalimar, 17-year-old Jennifer L. Gledhill of St. Cloud, 17-year-old Bianca L. Peralta of Key West and 16-year-old Nikkia Shaver-Keefer of Bradenton.

snip

And the list still includes Rilya Wilson, who would be 10 in September. Rilya's disappearance from her Miami caretaker's home when she was five years old sparked national outrage, leading the governor to appoint a blue-ribbon panel to investigate what was wrong with Florida's foster-care system. Since then, Geralyn Graham, Rilya's DCF-approved caregiver, has been charged with killing her.

snip