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THE TAMPA TRIBUNE
August 31, 2003, Sunday
Parents, Friends Walk To Keep Hope For Missing Children
JILL KING GREENWOOD, jgreenwood@tampatrib.com;
Reporter Jill King Greenwood can be reached at (813) 657-4534.
6-CITY EVENT TO END SEPT. 8 IN TALLAHASSEE
TAMPA - A lot happened in Linda Dages' life in 10 years.
Her children became young men and women, moved out and started their
own lives. Grandchildren were born. Milestones were reached.
Time keeps marching forward.
But, in many ways, time for Linda Dages and her family froze on
April 28, 1993.
That's the day Linda's daughter, Bonnie Lee Dages, 18, and Bonnie's
son, Jeremy Lee, 41/2 months, disappeared from the parking lot of a
grocery store in Lithia.
Bonnie Dages had withdrawn $10,000 from a bank account days before
her disappearance, and her van was found in the grocery store
parking lot, locked with her purse and Jeremy's baby things inside.
And it's in that parking lot that Linda Dages finds herself
returning in her mind, never giving up hope that she'll find her
daughter and grandson.
"People tell you to just move on with your life, and you do the
best you can, because you have to," Linda Dages said Saturday.
"But part of you is always holding out that tiny sliver of hope
that they might be found. You can't stop hoping."
Dages and dozens of other families and friends of missing children
in the Tampa area gathered Saturday to begin a six-city walk to
honor missing loved ones.
The second annual "Have a Heart for Missing Children" walk
started in Tampa's Al Lopez Park. Walks will be held this week in
Miami, Fort Myers, Orlando and Jacksonville. The week will end in
Tallahassee on Sept. 8, Florida Missing Children's Day.
Those gathered included friends and family of missing children, law
enforcement officers and legislators from the Bay area.
After speeches and presentations, participants walked around the
park, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of their
missing loved ones. Others held photographs.
The walk was created by Child Protection Education of America Inc.,
a national organization based in Tampa that assists in the search
for missing children.
The agency offers free photograph distribution, safety education
events and a fingerprinting program, said Don Smith, the
organization's director of public relations.
"It takes a particularly strong person to take something that
is so awful in your lives and try to turn it into something positive
to help someone else," Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio told the crowd.
"I know every one of you would physically walk to Tallahassee
or walk 1,000 miles if you thought it would bring your loved one
home."
An aunt and several friends and family members of Zachary Bernhardt
attended Saturday's walk and plan to participate in the others.
Zachary, 8, disappeared from his mother's Clearwater apartment on
Sept. 11, 2000.
"Tragic things happen to people every day, but it's so much
worse when you don't know what happened or where that person
is," said Billie Jo Jimenez, Zachary's aunt. "It is
unbelievably hard. We need to bring all these kids home."
Jimenez said it was encouraging to see families who have been
through similar experiences and to know that Zachary has not been
forgotten.
"This has been our worst nightmare, but we will never, ever let
his memory go," Jimenez said. "Please, please, don't stop
looking for Zach."
Darlena Piazza, a friend of Jimenez's, said Zachary's disappearance
has taught her to hold her two teenagers and 1-year-old nephew a
little closer.
"These days, you have to be so careful," Piazza said.
"You can't let your kids out of your sight for one second. In
the blink of an eye, they could be gone."
Contact Child Protection Education of America at www.find-missing-children.org
or 1-866-872-2443.
Republished
with permission: Copyright 2004 The Tampa Tribune
Tampa Tribune (Florida) http://www.tampatrib.com
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