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Families Hold Vigil For Area's Missing Children

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By LYNN CARSON and RAY REYES

News Channel 8 and The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 11, 2008

TAMPA - Families of missing children gathered for a candlelight vigil Thursday night in Tampa to raise awareness and to ensure their loved ones are not forgotten.

"I'm not going to give up hope," said Joshua Duckett, whose son, Trenton, disappeared from Leesburg two years ago. "I know someday my son's going to come home to me."

A group called Families United to Bring Our Children Home hosted the vigil at a boat ramp near the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Posters of children from the Tampa Bay area were displayed, each showing warm smiles, bright eyes — and the word "missing" above each photograph.

"You don't know what tomorrow brings," said Roy Brown, who last saw his daughter, Amanda, 10 years ago. "She asked me to go see her teachers and I told her I didn't have time. I regret that every day. People need to realize if a kid asks them to do something, they need to do it."

Families United members said if the vigil and the posters generates information that helps locates a child, then the group has done its job. The organization travels throughout Florida showing the pictures of the missing children. Members hope that with the visibility, the odds increase that someone will come forward with information.

There are 335 children missing in Florida, according to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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