AZ - Isabel Mercedes Celis, 6, Tucson, 20 April 2012 - #23

[Anita Richman]

Best I can do right now. Tired.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4763790...fered-information-isabel-celis-disappearance/

ETA: new flier http://bringisahome.com/go/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/605K_reward.pdf

I spent most of today on I-25 and highway 285 posting Isa's fliers. I spent time on the Santa Fe Plaza giving tourists the flier and asked them to take it with them as they continued on their journey across this US. I'm not "fliered" out. I'll keep it up until Isa is found.

This post put a tear in my eye. THANK YOU for having such a generous heart and positive attitude. YOU are the type of person who could be the instigator for a miracle.

 

[Dee10]

Personally I have given up trying to figure it out & just following the case as it slowly develops. I feel I am missing a piece or two of the puzzle to make my pieces fit. I can't figure out Mickey's case either. :banghead:

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Electronic media, social networking, and the Internet are the best tools for disseminating information quickly. I don't know anyone who doesn't have access to a computer and the Internet and everyone I know has at least a basic cell phone. Even my elderly mother and aunt both are online and have cell phones that get the Internet. Combine that with TV media and you've got a potent combo and the ability to reach target audiences in a highly efficient manner.

The problem with social media is that the Internet is so vast. I can share something about a missing person on Twitter, and unless a celebrity decides to re-tweet my post, probably 0.0000001% of the population will see it. Unless something you post goes viral, you're aren't reaching many people, compared to the population of the US. With mainstream media, it's guaranteed that at least thousands (possibly millions) will hear about the missing person. They should be used together. If a case is getting mainstream coverage, then people will go onto social media and talk about, and people who don't watch TV will hear about it too. But I can't think of a case that become well-known through social media, while being ignored by mainstream media, but I can think of many cases that were extremely well-known before the days of the Internet.

 

[GutFeeling!]

I see they had ANOTHER fundraiser yesterday. This stuff is now turning into a Reality Show. One case I was following, the parents got the donations after the child was found deceased. They bought a real nice vehicle..paid cash. Ever since the scamming Anthonys, I don't like what I see going on in these type cases.

Isn't $60,000 reward enough, FGS! Use some of the $60,000 money already collected for flyers (though they can be made for free many times).

When was the last time a reward was paid? The restrictions on receiving it are so strict that it seldom ever crosses anyone's hands. It usually states "Safe return"...well, that almost leaves out all chances of anyone collecting.

That is the only story the media is running with? So those volunteers are ultimately responsible for keeping Isabel's name out there aren't they? Kudos to them because the parents and cops are doing diddly squat.

There is nothing to say that the Celis family will get the remainder of any reward if and when Isabel is found.

Every case here where reward funds have raised have eventually gone to scholarships in the child's name (there are three cases that have never been solved here). The basic balance is kept in case the case is ever re-opened, I am not sure how long that will be the case for. Those funds were handed over to the Public Safety Committee for the city (they have a turn around of people every two years and are selected by the City Manager, Police Chief and Fire Chief. the interest off those funds is what goes towards a scholarship (in one case it is for a Criminal Justice student and another is a Cheer leader scholarship.

 

[Whisperer]

I haven't seen information regarding the reward in this case. My comments were from what I have observed in other cases.

Who is paying the reward for Isa and what are the criteria?

 

[GutFeeling!]

I'm not sure if it's rumors or not but do remember reading that someone(s) weren't eligible for a reward unless they called Crime Stoppers in another case. They apparently called 911 to report the tip.

I don't know if it's rumor or not. jmo

Crimestoppers always have a separate reward to others (usually minimal) - sometimes people will ask crimestoppers to look after donations on their behalf. That is often how funds are raised for other crimes for them to be able to offer a reward

 

[Whisperer]

Going for Scholarships?..That sounds like the donations have come from a public figure. It would be hard for me to imagine that all the money individuals send to the bank for the Celis family would be donated for Scholarships. If the money is going to the bank, I am going to assume it will be used as warranted by the Celis family.

 

[Whisperer]

I never noticed a missing child poster, before this, state where to donate. Perhaps I never noticed but it seems strange to me.

 

[Whisperer]

My last question tonight...who is paying the reward?

 

[Lark2]

My last question tonight...who is paying the reward?

$59,000 has come from private donations. See MSNBC link uphthread. The amount is now $65,000.

 

[pieper4]

I haven't seen information regarding the reward in this case. My comments were from what I have observed in other cases.

Who is paying the reward for Isa and what are the criteria?

The base reward, I believe, is $1K. The remainder is private donations to the program/for Isabel.

Someplace upthread the link to the program was posted which may be more precise.

 

[pieper4]

Going for Scholarships?..That sounds like the donations have come from a public figure. It would be hard for me to imagine that all the money individuals send to the bank for the Celis family would be donated for Scholarships. If the money is going to the bank, I am going to assume it will be used as warranted by the Celis family.

No, the TMC and PayPal donations are totally seperate from the Crimestoppers $60K+ reward.

That money (TMC, et al) is for the family and volunteer effort.

 

[pieper4]

Crimestoppers always have a separate reward to others (usually minimal) - sometimes people will ask crimestoppers to look after donations on their behalf. That is often how funds are raised for other crimes for them to be able to offer a reward

OK... now I am confused. LOL. Do you mean that perhaps the TMC and other donations *may* be part of the current $60K+ Crimestoppers "reward" ?

 

[Whisperer]

I am going to assume the family gave $1,000 to crimestoppers for the reward. The other $59,000 is being held by them @ Wells Fargo. There is no clear criteria on the $59,000. IIRC, it was set up to help the family. IMO, they can use that any way they want.

It doesn't appear there is any particular source for the reward other than Crimestoppers. Everything else is vague.

 

[GrainneDhu]

With all due respect, how do we know that she was actually drunk? "Under the influence" is not the same as falling-down-drunk, and many people get arrested when they are barely over the legal limit, but still capable of driving responsibly. Obviously, they made at least one mistake or they would never have been stopped... but people also run red lights and stop signs when they're stone cold sober.
As far as putting a child at risk with even ONE drink inside you, I absolutely agree with you. NO ONE should get behind the wheel of a vehicle if their judgement has been slowed or altered with ANY substance. However, I know people who take OTC medications for allergies or prescriptions for pain, who get in a vehicle and drive all over the place, and never get stopped or involved in an accident. So to me, it's six of one and half a dozen of another.
I can't keep blaming someone for a DUI that happend five or six years ago, and using that to say it makes them capable of murder. Sorry, no disrespect intended, just stating my POV.

In my state (which is not New Mexico), I have learned to look at those "diversion/dropped charges" deals with a jaundiced view. My state used to allow so-called sobriety checkpoints, where every vehicle or a random selection of vehicles are stopped and a breathalyzer test is administered to the driver.

I have a friend who was caught in one. She had been partying with friends and a while before she knew she was going to be driving home, she switched to soda. She felt certain that she was not drunk when she got behind the wheel. There was a long line at the sobriety checkpoint and when she got to the head of the line, she blew a 0.06, which is not legally impaired.

She was charged anyway. The reasoning behind the charges was that she'd been sitting in line for awhile and her BAC was probably higher before she actually took the test. It didn't seem to matter to the arresting officer that she hadn't been behind the wheel when her BAC was higher!

Her lawyer said the case was extremely shaky on legal grounds but that if the prosecutor offered to drop the charge if she went through diversion class, that would be the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to make the whole thing go away.

So that's what she did. Diversion was two four hour classes held on consecutive Saturdays and then the charges were dropped.

Apparently, there were quite a few of those really shaky cases because within a couple years, my state banned sobriety checkpoints.

Ever since then, I always wonder when I see that someone had a DUI charge dropped in return for going through diversion, was that person really impaired in the first place? Or did they just agree to the diversion deal because it was the easiest way to make the whole thing go away?

 

[kat77]

My last question tonight...who is paying the reward?

I've tried to research this and I agree it is confusing.

IMO the actual reward money is coming from 88-Crime. This is a program of the Pima County Attorney's Office. $59.500 are private donated funds. $1000 is actually from 88-Crime. The 88-Crime fund is a Tip-Line administered by Pima County. This is the fund which now totals $60,500.

The criteria for collecting the reward is explained on the 88-Crime website:

"Tipsters are always anonymous and are eligible to receive a cash reward if the information given leads to an arrest or grand jury indictment of a felony offender."

The actual 88-Crime Isa flier says the reward "is being offered for information leading to the the arrest of the person(s) responsible for the disappearance of Isabel Celis."

http://88crime.org/
http://88crime.org/custom.aspx?p=7

Separate from the 88-Crime reward fund, donations (which may be controlled by the family) are primarily being collected by two websites: BringIsaHome and the TMC foundation site:

http://bringisahome.com/
https://www.tmcaz.com/TMCFoundation


Both of these websites include the following statement:

"A special fund has been established to assist the search for Isabel Mercedes Celis and to support the family." Neither site mentions anything about a reward , except when referring to 88-crime.

According to Bring Isa Home there are apparently 5 ways to donate:
1. To the fund at TMC
2. To Wells Fargo using the account name of "Bring Isa Home"
3. Directly to the Office Max in person or by phone
4. To BringIsaHome.com through a Paypal account
5. At the volunteer center in person (maybe includes local fundraisers like car wash, T-shirts, bracelets, etc)

IMO it appears that donations through the volunteer center and other family/friend fundraisers probably go into the BringIsaHome fund. At this point, I haven't found anything about how much money has been raised or who has access to these funds.

I see what you mean about a Missing Child poster listing a location to donate.

It is strange that the Isa flier on the BringIsaHome website says "Donations Accepted Through: Wells Fargo: Bring Isa Home Account".
http://bringisahome.com/


The similar official Isa flier on the 88-crime website does not mention donations.
http://88crime.org/custom.aspx?p=7


This is very confusing. It makes it appear that the Wells Fargo Isa account might be collecting donations for the 88-Crime Reward fund. Since the 88-Crime site has their own Donate button, I thought their donations were handled directly by Pima County.

 

[Madeleine74]

The problem with social media is that the Internet is so vast. I can share something about a missing person on Twitter, and unless a celebrity decides to re-tweet my post, probably 0.0000001% of the population will see it. Unless something you post goes viral, you're aren't reaching many people, compared to the population of the US. With mainstream media, it's guaranteed that at least thousands (possibly millions) will hear about the missing person. They should be used together. If a case is getting mainstream coverage, then people will go onto social media and talk about, and people who don't watch TV will hear about it too. But I can't think of a case that become well-known through social media, while being ignored by mainstream media, but I can think of many cases that were extremely well-known before the days of the Internet.

In a case like Isa and many other cases, what is most important is timely and targeted dissemination of info. You don't need to worry about people in Rhode Island, NYC, FL, VA, etc. It's the people in the greater Tucson area, across AZ, and maybe neighboring states who are most important to be aware of the case, certainly initially.

Before the Internet everyone watched TV and read newspapers to get their news--because that was the only way to get information. There are multiple ways to get news and information now. Twitter and social media type companies are just platforms and are good auxiliary methods to news outlets. The Amber Alert system is much better than Facebook or Twitter or a celeb retweeting when there's an active and verified abduction because it's focused within a geographic area, is specific to child abductions, and targets people who are in their cars and on the roads and are able to see other vehicles. Getting info about an AZ case to Peoria, IL is not vital or a good use of resources.

The Internet allows the fast dissemination of info, which is its strength. It's a tool, just one of many, but without using the tool effectively to get information into the hands of those who most need it (rather than the world at large) it's like throwing confetti in the wind.

Again, what is LE asking for the public to do in this case at this time?

 

[white rabbit]

does anyone have a transcript link to the interview the c's did on the couch? i forget which local station aired the interview. TIA!!!

 

[TxLady2]

In my state (which is not New Mexico), I have learned to look at those "diversion/dropped charges" deals with a jaundiced view. My state used to allow so-called sobriety checkpoints, where every vehicle or a random selection of vehicles are stopped and a breathalyzer test is administered to the driver.

I have a friend who was caught in one. She had been partying with friends and a while before she knew she was going to be driving home, she switched to soda. She felt certain that she was not drunk when she got behind the wheel. There was a long line at the sobriety checkpoint and when she got to the head of the line, she blew a 0.06, which is not legally impaired.

She was charged anyway. The reasoning behind the charges was that she'd been sitting in line for awhile and her BAC was probably higher before she actually took the test. It didn't seem to matter to the arresting officer that she hadn't been behind the wheel when her BAC was higher!

Her lawyer said the case was extremely shaky on legal grounds but that if the prosecutor offered to drop the charge if she went through diversion class, that would be the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to make the whole thing go away.

So that's what she did. Diversion was two four hour classes held on consecutive Saturdays and then the charges were dropped.

Apparently, there were quite a few of those really shaky cases because within a couple years, my state banned sobriety checkpoints.

Ever since then, I always wonder when I see that someone had a DUI charge dropped in return for going through diversion, was that person really impaired in the first place? Or did they just agree to the diversion deal because it was the easiest way to make the whole thing go away?

I don't know what NM has to do with anything, because I'm from TX, but everything else you posted makes sense. I think the legal limit here is .08, so two beers just before getting under the wheel would put some over the limit. I don't know anybody who would be considered drunk with only two beers.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

While I thanked individual posts and hope that I didn't miss anyone, I would like to thank everyone for the early anniversary wishes (it's June 25) :tyou: We'll enjoy the peace and tranquility of charming Mackinac Island where we've spent many happy times over the years.

Just for fun: If you've never been to the enchanted island off Michigan's lower peninsula, I hope you enjoy this parody of the Pure Michigan travel campaign

Pure Michigan: Mackinac Island - YouTube