The safety tips are part of the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children’s Take 25 national child safety campaign.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office wants parents to know there are steps that they can take to keep their children safe and urges parents to follow NCMEC’s recommendation to take 25 minutes to talk about safety with their child. Click here to view the safety tips, or go to www.missingkids.com.
Tuesday is National Missing Children’s Day. Annually honored on May 25, this day serves as a reminder to the nation to make child safety a national priority.
On Tuesday, the community will remember these local children who have gone missing:
• Adji Desir, 7, was last seen Jan. 10, 2009, after he went outside to play in Farm Worker Village in Immokalee and disappeared. Adji is 3 feet tall and 45 pounds with short black hair and dark eyes. He is developmentally disabled and functions on a 2-year-old level. He has a limited vocabulary. He understands Creole, but cannot speak it. He knows his name, but cannot say it.
• Brenda Ovalle of East Naples was 16 when she was last seen leaving her uncle’s home in eastern Collier on Feb. 3, 2004. She was 5 feet 8 inches tall and 165 pound with brown hair and brown eyes when she disappeared. Authorities believe she may be in Mexico with family.
• Florinda Lopez of East Naples was 16 when she disappeared. She was last seen in Collier on June 18, 2001. She may have traveled to Immokalee or to Miami where she has family and friends. She did not take any identification when she left. At the time of her disappearance she was 5 feet tall and 100 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
• Mariazel Arreaga of Immokalee has been missing since April 30, 2007. She was 15 when she disappeared and was 4 feet 11 inches and 100 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She may still be in the Immokalee area, possibly with a boyfriend.
• Wendy Hudakoc of Golden Gate was 14 when she was last seen leaving a party with an adult male in the city of Naples on Nov. 15, 1998. She was 5 feet 6 inches and 130 pounds with light brown hair and hazel eyes when she disappeared. She has a scar on her left hand and a birthmark on the back of her neck.
• Darwin Daniel Garcia of Immokalee ran away from home on June 13, 2008. He is 4 feet 10 inches tall and 140 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Authorities believe he may be in Georgia, Tennessee or North Carolina. He may be in the company of a family member.
• Wendy Ramirez-Beristain, 3, of Naples, disappeared Nov. 9, 2008. She was 3 feet tall and 50 pounds when she went missing. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She may be in the company of her father and they may be traveling to Mexico.
• Magdelina Andres Pascual of Immokalee was 15 at the time of her disappearance. She has been missing since May 26, 2004. It is believed she left with her boyfriend in a red car. At the time she disappeared, she was 4 feet 10 inches tall and 100 pounds with black hair and brown eyes..jpg)
• Michael Williams of Immokalee was 17 when he disappeared. He was last seen leaving his residence on Madison Avenue West the morning of June 15, 2009. He never returned. He is 5 feet 4 inches tall and 117 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
• Lilliana Guadalupe Miguel, 2, of East Naples was last seen in the vicinity of the 5000 block of Holland Street on Nov. 20, 2009. She was with her parents and siblings. At the time she went missing she was 2 feet tall and 30 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
• Makayla Ann Marie Miguel,1, of East Naples was last seen in the vicinity of the 5000 block of Holland Street on Nov. 20, 2009. She was with her parents and siblings.
• Neil Eddleman of Golden Gate was 13 when he disappeared while out on a fishing trip with his father and an adult on Oct. 17, 2003. The boat has since been located, along with the body of the adult male. Neil was 5 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes when he disappeared. His ears are pierced and he has a scar on the right side of his abdomen. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the Collier County Sheriff’s Office at 239-252-9300.
