Center needs financing to keep finding missing loved ones

Frank Mahoney slapped a human bone on the table before me and declared, “That’s what we find a lot of times.”

But there are success stories, most recently an 18-month-old toddler.

The former police officer from New York came to Las Vegas to retire but instead founded the Nevada Center for Missing Loved Ones, a bare-bones nonprofit that helps police search for missing persons.

A missing person is no rarity in Clark County. Mahoney’s volunteers have worked 196 cases so far this year, and 57 are still open. Of the 139 closed cases, the majority are females older than 18.

Mahoney coordinates about 100 volunteers who, depending on specific search needs and their availability, are able to help police search for missing persons. They are trained by police how to search in an organized effort.

Some search on horseback, like my friend, Mary Siero, and her husband, Terry Tobias, who told me about Mahoney. Some search on ATVs. There is one pilot, three people with boats, some hikers and some willing to search on foot. Others use their computer skills, creating fliers and searching records.

Last month, an 18-month-old boy was abducted by his mother, who had lost custody of him. Mahoney was part of a team going door to door in an apartment complex where the child was last seen.

Mahoney did some “New York knocking.” He paid a maintenance man $20 for information about vacant apartments while police covered the occupied apartments. He found the boy at the first door. The mother and boyfriend were hiding with him in a closet.

Mahoney started the center in 2007 after police told him there was an area where they could use some help — missing persons.

Mahoney said it’s a myth that someone must wait a certain time to report missing people. It’s no myth that police resources for searches are limited.

Many of the missing need immediate help, particularly Alzheimer’s patients who wander off.

“The biggest killer is heat,” Mahoney said. “If you don’t find someone in the first four hours and they don’t take their meds, they may die.”

The center is in an industrial area of Henderson at 253 Elliott Road, Suite 16. Operating on a shoestring budget of less than $25,000 a year, it relies on the support of fewer than 20 sponsors.

No salaries are paid, and volunteers don’t get reimbursed for expenses.

People who search with horses spend about $100 for gas to get their horses to the search site, said Mary Figueras, who heads the mounted unit of 25 to 30 people,

“It’s unbelievably satisfying,” said the former real estate broker, who became active with the center three years ago. “The families of missing people are so grateful for the searchers’ efforts. They just want somebody to care.”

It took Mahoney four years, but through his efforts, a statewide alert system for missing endangered older persons was created by Senate Bill 245.

He wants to do more.

Mahoney is looking for an angel because the center receives no government money. He would like to buy 10 radios with GPS, so when something is found, police can locate the exact site. But the radios run $300 each.

His wife, Sippy, created a “senior identification packet,” where a senior could put a current photo and information about themselves and contact information. He would like to give them to seniors. But that costs, too.

It takes a special person to look for a missing person, knowing you may find remains instead.

And it takes a special person to always be ready to jump into action, 24/7.

Frank Mahoney learned of a community’s need and acted. With the other volunteers, he receives satisfaction by helping find missing loved ones, dead or alive, doing a job not everyone is willing to do for no pay.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Morrison