'Sun-Sentinel's Common Sense Finds Missing Kids

By: Joe Strupp When the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale found nine children who'd been considered lost in the state's child-welfare system, it didn't use confidential sources, sealed court files, or undercover disguises.

In a way, all it used was common sense.

Many credit -- or blame -- the Sun-Sentinel's coverage with forcing the resignation of Department of Children & Families (DCF) Secretary Kathleen A. Kearney two days after the paper's Aug. 11 story. Kearney had been under scrutiny for months following the revelation that Rilya Wilson, a girl in DCF care who would be 5 now, had been missing for more than a year without state officials knowing about it.

Using data in police reports and in records of the DCF and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, three Sun-Sentinel reporters tracked down the nine youngsters in a matter of weeks -- with two being found in just a few hours.

"I didn't think it would be that easy," said Diana Marrero, one of the reporters carrying out the investigation that began in mid-June and ended with a story detailing where the "missing" children could be found. "Sometimes, the best source is the simplest one."

Brant Houston, executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors and an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, said of the Sun-Sentinel story: "It's a great example of solid, shoe-leather reporting. It shows again that just a little digging can accomplish a lot."

The Rilya Wilson case led Marrero and reporters Sally Kestin and Megan O'Matz to search for some of the state's missing children after government officials claimed they had done all they could to find more than 500 DCF youngsters deemed lost. "It was clear they weren't looking very hard for a lot of these kids," said Kestin, the lead reporter on the story. "These cases were not a high priority."

The reporters focused on 24 of 532 missing welfare children, limiting their search to those who were 14 years old or younger and who were from the Sun-Sentinel circulation area: Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties. In each case, the reporters took data -- such as the parents' names, dates of birth, and last known addresses -- and fed it into AutoTrack, a professional database-search service. AutoTrack, owned by ChoicePoint Asset Co. of Alpharetta, Ga., cross-checked the data nationwide with hundreds of public records, from court files to deed transfers, and provided the reporters with lists of people matching the data, as well as relatives and neighbors.

Kestin cited the example of David Soler. When her research turned up his last known address in a nearby neighborhood, she visited the home, but found no one there. After leaving her business card at the house, she received telephone calls from the child's grandfather and from the child's mother, who had been living at the house with the boy.

"I found one kid after speaking with some friends and family who said he was in the Dominican Republic," Marrero said. So, she added, "I called directory assistance down there and then called their home."

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush weighed in after the Sun-Sentinel story appeared, commenting that its findings "suggest that we need a new approach."

Sun-Sentinel editors used the story to harshly criticize state officials. In an editorial that ran Aug. 13, the paper said the state DCF "stands exposed" and called its efforts to find lost children "a sham."

Editor Earl Maucker told E&P the coverage also sparked a dispute with state officials, who immediately demanded access to the reporters' data and documents. The paper, he said, declined to provide it.