Susan Whitehorse could hardly contain the good news. She just found out DNA tests had confirmed a Native American mother had found her missing daughter after a 30-year search. Whitehorse is the Wisconsin Missing Persons Clearinghouse Coordinator and AMBER Alert Coordinator and met the woman a few months earlier at a training event concerning exploited children in Indian Country.
“This mother talked to me about all the pain and sorrow she suffered because she did not know what happened to her daughter or if she was alive or dead,” said Whitehorse. “She said no one wanted to listen to hear her voice.”
Whitehorse started working with different agencies and found a woman who was living in Utah. The Native American woman's daughter was just two years old when she was taken to Mexico by her biological father. She eventually moved back to the U.S. but never stopped looking for her mother. Now that their DNA has been matched, a reunion is being planned for the mother, daughter and two granddaughters.
“We can get a lot more done than we could 30 years ago,” said Whitehorse.
This missing person case is a good example of what Whitehorse has been doing for about 35 years with the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Wisconsin has had 23 AMBER Alert activations with the safe recovery of 31 children. Whitehorse said training, developing a CART Program, knowing AMBER Alert coordinators in surrounding states, and the great partnership with all Wisconsin stakeholders ensures their AMBER Alert Plan is the most effective and efficient response to a child abduction.
Technology has also played a significant role in keeping Wisconsin's AMBER Alert Plan viable. The state uses the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network (WCAN), a web-based system which allows law enforcement agencies to send out AMBER Alerts and missing/endangered person advisories via email, cell phone text and fax. The system gives law enforcement the ability to send out a WCAN alert while waiting for an AMBER Alert to be approved.
Wisconsin is also one of 13 Midwestern states that participates in the Inter-State Enforcement Agencies to Recover Children (I-SEARCH), a network designed to aid in the identification and recovery of missing, exploited children, runaways, and human trafficking victims.
“There is a connection between human trafficking and the AMBER Alert,” said Whitehorse. She said more training is needed to identify child trafficking victims, especially children from tribal communities. “Native youth are impacted by threats that affect their physical and emotional well-being at a rate many times higher than that of non-native youth,” she said.
Whitehorse said her work is also inspired by meeting with victims' families. Many family members have sent her personal notes of thanks for her compassion and care during their times of crisis.
Whitehorse is married and has a son and daughter who remind her that all children are precious. “My children are my life,” she said. “I have been so very blessed.”
SUSAN WHITEHORSE
TIMELINE OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1999: Appointed Missing Persons Clearinghouse Coordinator.
2003: Set up the Wisconsin AMBER Alert Plan and named state AMBER Alert Coordinator; Wisconsin has had 23 activations with 31 children safely recovered.
2007: U.S. Department of Justice recognized her as Missing Child State Clearinghouse Coordinator of the Year.
2009: FBI honored her with a Community Leadership Award.
2010: Helped create Wisconsin Child Abduction Response Team.
2010: Joined U.S. Attorney's Human Trafficking Task Force.