June 19, 2023

EP 44 | What Happened To Andy Puglisi? Lawrence, Mass & The Suspects In His Disappearance (part two)

1 hour 1 minute

Part two of two in the still-unsolved disappearance of 10-year-old Lawrence, Massachusetts boy Andy Puglisi who simply vanished from his neighborhood in the summer of 1976. Please go back and listen to part one before beginning this episode. Police searched for just six days before calling it off. That was the beginning of a 40-plus year mystery fraught with suspicions, slow response, and missed opportunities.

There were five known child predators at the pool the day Andy disappeared, police would tell his mother Faith Puglisi and, because they weren’t breaking any laws, there was nothing they could do about it. Children were not safe in the 1970s. They aren't safe today but missing kids in the 1970s seemed to be an phenomenon.

We go over related cases of the men suspected in Andy's disappearnce, none of whom were arrest or prosecuted for his abduction. This is about violent crime against children, please listen with care.

We still hope to find an answer to the question, what happened to Andy Puglisi?

June is internet safety month, it is a good time to talk about what children face online and what we can do to help keep them safe. In 2018, the national center for missing & exploited children’s cybertipline received more than 18 million reports of online child sexual exploitation. the majority of these tips were related to:

child sexual abuse imagery
online enticement, including “sextortion”
child sex trafficking

They found that online enticement took place across every online platform; from social media sites to messaging apps and online games. It is shocking to learn how pervasive child sexual abuse online has become - with about 97% of American kids having access to tablets and smartphones, that opens up many opportunities for predators to get access to children online.

Information at missingkids.org
The Cyber Tipline: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)

Links
Have You Seen Andy?
by Melanie Perkins McLaughlin

Boston Globe "Have You Seen Andy' series, July 4, 1999
by Judith Gaines

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This podcast has minimal profanity but from time to time you get one or some curse words. This isn't for kids.

Music included in episodes from Joe "onlyone" Kowalski, Dug McCormack's Math Ghosts and Shredding by Andrew King