Green lights show the way home for missing people

By Ginna Young

Do you know how many people are missing from your community? Do you know the families of those missing? Do you wonder if the missing will ever be found?

As of April 1, there are 216 people missing in Wisconsin alone, according to the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children and Adults.

Included on that list from the area, are Tammy Jovaag, from Holcombe, who went missing in June 2015, at the age of 49; Shannon Boiteau, 23, Chippewa Falls, since June 2016; James Liedtka, 28, Eau Claire, since Nov. 2018; Norbert “Tony” Dantzman, 89, Winter, since August 2019; Marchelle Hanson, 23, Phillips, since November, 1987; Sara Bushland, 15, Spooner, since April 1996; Daniel Geurkink, 46, Baldwin, since March 2007; Gene Jacob Cloud Jr., 20, Black River Falls, since January 2012; Jack Alden Wolcott, 73, Black River Falls, since March 1981; and Phillip Malchow, 47, Black River Falls, since May of 1963.

What happened to these people? Were they taken by kidnappers, stalkers or human traffickers? No one knows.

That’s why April is known statewide in Wisconsin, as Missing Persons Awareness Month. Because of that, annually, green lights are strung on Cornell’s Bridge Street, to remind the community and passersby to stay vigilant in looking for a clue to bring home the missing.

The lights, which were donated by Cornell resident Kathy Swanson and strung by the city, are a symbol to light the way home for the ones who are still missing. Billboards throughout Wisconsin, will also show the names of those missing in Wisconsin, sponsored by the Missing Persons Advocacy, Inc., in Green Bay.

The community is asked to report any information – no matter how small or insignificant it seems – that they may have on the missing members from their area.

“You never know what little piece of information can help bring these people home and give their families the closure they need,” said Swanson.