The Laura Recovery Center exists to prevent abductions and runaways and to recover missing children by fostering a Triangle of Trust among law enforcement, communities and a missing child's families. The center is headquartered in Friendswood, Texas, United States. The center was founded by Bob and Gay Smither in response to the murder of their daughter Laura Kate Smither (April 23, 1984 - April 3, 1997).
Laura Smither was abducted near her Friendswood, Texas, home on April 3, 1997 while she was jogging. A volunteer ground search, which consisted of more than 6,000 volunteers and covered over 800 square miles (2,000 km²), was organized by her community. The search for Laura Smither quickly spread across the nation. Her murdered body was discovered April 20 in a regional water retention pond 10 miles from her home.
The person who abducted and murdered Laura has not been charged.
The Center focuses on Education, Search, and Prevention related to child abduction and child safety.
Resources for families with missing children are offered on the center's website, including a free on-line Flyer Creation page, a free on-line Child ID kit, and on-line access to the LRC Search Manual.
When the center accepts a case one of the first actions taken is to post a flyer with information about the missing child. The flyers are posted to the Center's missing child page. Once on-line, the missing child flyer can be e-mailed and faxed by any visitor to the site to help distribute information about the missing child. The Laura Recovery Center began adding Quick Response Codes to its flyers in October 2010. The QR Code will direct users of smart phones to a page where they can help distribute the missing child's flyer.
The Center has organized numerous community led searches for abducted children, including those for Danielle Van Dam, Elizabeth Smart, and Morgan Harrington. The police search for Danielle concentrated on places their only suspect had been. The Center-organized search found her far from where police had focused.
A map showing the locations of Laura Recovery Center open cases, organized searches and other Center information is available on-line.
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