just wanted to see how this worked.
nice place. Is this only about missing persons?

Welcome to the OpenMinded World. 

We are a small board, just starting out, and actively seeking other members who would like to share their opinions and thoughts on topics that surround us daily. A few of the topics you will see here might be Hannah Upp, the missing NYC teacher, Caylee Anthony, who wasn't reported missing for nearly a month after her disappearance and several other topics.  Feel free to look around, everyone is welcome.

The rules here are pretty simple:
1. Treat everyone with respect.
2. Be honest at all times.
 3. No bashing members or members from other boards.
4. Membership is required.

While the board is open, please take the time to introduce yourself and share your thoughts.

 

Search For Caylee Called Off
Sunday, September 07, 2008 10:30:39 PM

ORLANDO -- Texas EquuSearch has temporarily called off its ground search for missing 3-year-old Caylee Anthony.

On Sunday, the group cited environmental conditions and concerns for stopping the search.

Texas EquuSearch leader Tim Miller said the volunteers cleared off the areas they had of interest the best they could, but he said when Caylee disappeared, those areas were very dry and now those areas are holding a considerable amount of water.

Miller said because of those conditions, they cannot clear those areas 100 percent.

“I just have a huge concern that if Caylee is out there and her little body and something did happen to her, and she’s just possibly skeletal remains, if we’re going through there with four-wheelers and horses and just accidentally run over her because she’s under that water and we can’t see her, we’re going to push her more in the mud,” Miller said.

Miller went on to say that Caylee deserves the dignity of having her special spot.

“I know where she’s at right now is not a place she chose to be. So when the conditions get better, we’re going to come back, we’re going to find this little girl and we’re going to bring some closure to this entire community,” Miller said.

Members spent last week searching with volunteers.  More than 1200 of them searched wooded areas around the Anthony home and Orlando International Airport Saturday.  Several hundred searched again on Sunday.

Along with local efforts, EquuSearch said it's starting a national campaign Monday.

For information on how you can volunteer, call Texas EquuSearch at (866) 473-1584.

Calling For Calm
Meanwhile Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary called for an end to the protests that have sometime turned violent outside the home of the missing girl's family.
   
Dozens of people have been lining up nightly outside the Anthony family home since Casey Anthony was released from prison last week.
   
However, Beary said responding to the protests is taking away resources they could better use to find Caylee.
   
"There are two sides to every story and we don't need that kind of battling going on.  So I'm going to ask the community to calm down a little bit, focus on one thing… Caylee Anthony, that's the main focus,” Beary said.  “That's always been the main focus and it needs to continue to be the main focus.”

Beary also said Casey may be the missing part to this puzzle, but asked others who may know anything about the case to come forward as well.

Security Cameras Installed At Anthony Home
Workers began installing security cameras around the home of Caylee Anthony's grandparents, where the missing 3-year-old's mother, Casey, is staying after being bailed out of jail.

A security company showed up Saturday at the home of George and Cindy Anthony to install the cameras, presumably for the family's protection.

The cameras are becoming necessary as crowds continue to gather outside the home, and neighbors try to take back their street.

News 13 learned a gun was taken from the spare tire well of George Anthony's SUV early Saturday morning. See previous story.

Having a gun on the property is a violation of Casey Anthony's bail, but the judge who issued the bail said Casey would not be taken back into custody, since it seemed she was unaware of the gun.


http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/9/7/security_cameras_installed_at_anthony_home.html
Extended Coverage
News 13 is your source for all the latest information on the Caylee Anthony case.

This case has hit newspapers,tv and magazines. Where is Caylee Anthony? Is she dead or alive? Casey Anthony has repeatedly sent authorities on goose chase after goose chase. Telling them she left Caylee with a babysitter,but didn't get an address or phone number, Caylee was abducted by the babysitter with only a script of what to tell , etc.

She's been arrested for numerous things. Falsifying a report, bail revoked, theft, fraud charges, etc. Her mouth's been sealed up tighter than Fort Knox. I'm a mother and I wouldn't have waited a month to report my baby missing, I'd be cooperating no hindering the investigation. I wouldn't be out laughing it up with my buddies, or drinking it up while my child was missing!

I do pray they find Caylee alive and safe, but reality tells me we're looking for a body unfortunately.

Missing in New York City: Hannah Upp
Posted at 9:12 AM Sep 05, 2008
No one has seen 23-year-old New York City school teacher Hannah Emily Upp since Friday, August 29, 2008.

Her roommates say Hannah was planning a weekend getaway. She was going to spend some time with her mom in Philadelphia and probably return to NYC on Saturday, no later than Sunday. They last saw her around 2 that afternoon.

Some time that day she used her debit card to go to a movie by herself at a Times Square movie theater.

When Hannah didn't come home on Sunday, her roommates began to worry. Phone calls went straight to voice mail.

When they entered her bedroom Monday evening, frantic with worry, they found Hannah's handbag. Everything she might need was there -- an ATM card, her cell, her passport and her subway card.

Hannah was supposed to go back to work on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, where she taught middle school Spanish. The first day of her second year as a teacher passed, still no Hannah.

Now there is a Facebook group dedicated to finding Hannah, as well as several blog posts and news articles.

No one knows where she is.

Hannah Upp graduated from Bryn Mawr in 2007. Following graduation she moved to New York, where she secured her job at Thurgood Marshall and began doing volunteer work for AIDS organizations. The Daily News reported that she had also begun working on a master's in education at Pace University.

Hannah had wide-ranging, unusual interests. An article published in the Daily News on July 19, 2008 featured a photo of Hannah with a couple of friends holding bags of bagels. According to the piece, Hannah and her friends were "freegans."

Freegans are a subculture of people, usually vegans, who only eat food that is free. Freegans find what they need by scavenging on the street; the practice is called Dumpster diving. To be a freegan is to reject capitalist values and the wastefulness of society at large. It's an act of defiance, a turning away from crass, consumer culture. Since May 8 this year, Hannah Upp had even been a member of a Meetup group for people interested in "NYC Dumpster Diving."

While a member of the Bryn Mawr and Haverford Chamber Singers, Hannah wrote about a choir trip to Ghana for Bryn Mawr Now. Her article revealed a great deal of insight and a compelling way with words. Hannah wrote:

Returning to Bryn Mawr also meant that I was faced with the challenge of explaining how I spent my winter break, and I have surprised myself with my descriptions of the trip. Instead of the details that would excite a thrill-seeking traveler [...] I find myself describing the emotion I felt while we sang a spiritual at the banks of the river where slaves were bathed for the last time before being sent off on the Middle Passage. I recall the power of the hospitality of the family that welcomed me into their home, where I would share a small bed with three others in what turned into a very cozy night. I refer to the instant connection developed with the members of other choirs when we were able to engage through a song that we had specifically learned to sing together. As corny as it sounds, music did become the instant bridge. Even though I had never met this person singing next to me and any objective comparison of our lives would indicate a complete lack of common ground, we were able to interact and share something that needs no explanation...
A fellow Bryn Mawr student, writing in her tumblelog about Hannah's disappearance, called the young teacher "one of the kindest people I’ve ever met." The size of the Facebook group devoted to finding Hannah is further testament to the number of people who know her and now find themselves worried about the teacher with the easy, winning smile. In a comment on the group page, a friend named Danika Hunt wrote, "I am completely distraught right now, actively keeping my mind aside whenever I can, because I can't imagine my Hannah in this situation. Please return home safely. You're in mine and my family's prayers. I miss you."

Corey Godbey wrote that he was "Hannah's cousin Corey from KS." Godbey continued, "I want to thank each one of you that has joined this group... and also ask you to join me... As we continue to pray for Hannah's safety and ask God to reveal her whereabouts to us... we also need to pray (believing) for the person(s) that DO know where she is. Someone does. Somewhere. Pray with me that that person(s) will reveal what they know in the opportune moment..."

Not all disappearances are the result of a criminal act. They can come from depression, from misadventure, from someone simply wanting to just get the hell away from it all. It seems clear that in this case, Hannah Upp's disappearance was completely unexpected and to those who know and love her, cause for great suspicion and worry.

Dropping into the subjective blogger's voice now -- I couldn't help but notice that Hannah Upp disappeared just two days before the murder of Pace University honors student Kevin Pravia. Pravia was apparently murdered by a homeless man, Jeromie Cancel, whom Pravia met early in the morning on August 31. Cancel accompanied Pravia to his apartment. After Pravia fell asleep, Cancel took a number of electronic items and left -- only to return and strangle Kevin Pravia as an afterthought.

Freegans with jobs and residences like Hannah Upp would surely come into quite a bit of contact with the homeless, who sometimes have no choice but to Dumpster-dive.

Let's hope Hannah didn't encounter Jeromie Cancel or someone like him. Since it seems as though Cancel has been more than willing to confess to what he's done, it is unlikely she ran into him, or he might have already said so. Still, there had to be a certain danger factor in pursuing the freegan lifestyle, since among the homeless, there will always be a small number of people like Jeromie Cancel, who have profound and potentially dangerous emotional and mental problems.

If you think you have information that might help in the search for Hannah Emily Upp, please call (800) 577-TIPS or get in touch with Detective Perez at the 30th Precinct Detective Squad, by calling either 212-690-8842, or 212-690-8843.
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2008/09/missing_in_new_york_city_hanna.php