Published: March 13, 2007 11:31 pm         

Javinses help push missing persons bill

TERRE HAUTE — A piece of legislation making its way through the Indiana General Assembly has one Wabash Valley family feeling hopeful.

House Bill 1306, which fared well during its first reading in the Senate on Tuesday, would require police to act more quickly on some missing-adult cases.

Merv Javins of Terre Haute, whose adult son, Scott, went missing almost five years ago, said while the bill won’t do much for his son’s case, he thinks “it’s a great victory for all families of missing persons and also a victory for future families of missing people.”

The Senate committee on Homeland Security, Transportation & Veterans Affairs heard testimony from several families of missing adults as well as a representative from the Indiana State Police before voting unanimously in favor of HB1306.

Every member of the committee also chose to cosponsor the bill, making it even stronger for its next step in the legislative process.

Patti Bishop of Indianapolis, whose stepdaughter Karen Jo Smith went missing in 2000, said the bill was modeled after one passed in Nebraska a few years ago by the mother of a young man who has never been found after his disappearance at age 19.

Bishop testified Tuesday morning before the senate committee, along with family members of Wade Steffey, missing since January 2007 from West Lafayette, and Molly Dattilo, missing since July 2004 from Indianapolis.

The bill would require law enforcement officers to “accept without delay any report of a missing person,” regardless of age or circumstances. It would require prompt determination of whether the person can be deemed “high-risk” or not. The bill also addresses the reporting of unidentified human remains, including a requirement that officials enter information in federal and state missing persons databases.

During a legislative crackerbarrel session Saturday in Terre Haute, senators and representatives heard from the Javins family about the bill.

Rep. Vern Tincher, D-Riley, said, “In the past, the police attitude has been, if you’re 18 years old and you want to disappear, there’s no law against it. But a lot of young people disappear and we know they probably have not gone voluntarily. We need to make sure the information is dispatched to everyone – the faster it gets out the quicker we have a chance of finding those people.”

Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute, told Javins during the crackerbarrel he would support the bill and encourage other members of the General Assembly to do so.

On Tuesday, after 1306 passed the committee, Skinner added, “That’s a great sign it will probably have no trouble whatsoever. I intend to put my name on that bill as a representative of the Javins family and all that they have gone through since Scott disappeared.”

The family of Scott Javins continues to search for any clues to his disappearance. A recent appearance by the family on the Nancy Grace national crime talk show provided a few new leads for the case, which local authorities are looking into.

The search for Javins, who has been missing since May 24, 2002, has spanned nine states and involved at least 30 law enforcement agencies. Twenty bodies of water in Indiana and Illinois have been searched, according to Detective Tim Gossett of the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department.

On Monday, Indiana State Police divers and county authorities, responding to a tip they received in early January, searched a pond on Roberts Road in southern Vigo County.

“We only found some large concrete blocks someone had dumped there but nothing else,” Gossett said.

Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.