Inside Lenz Network

Dr. David Fowler, Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Maryland returns to Shattered Lives to discuss the very important role that medical examiners play in public health matters.

From the CDC:  Each state sets its own standards for what kinds of deaths require investigation and its own professional and continuing education requirements for individuals carrying out these investigations. These different standards can have a broad-reaching public health impact as variations in the collection and reporting of cause-of-death data could hinder public health officials’ ability to conduct accurate mortality surveillance.

This episode features discussion about CUE Center for Missing Persons and the work they do to find missing persons.

WEBSITE: http://ncmissingpersons.org

Offering a wide range of free services, CUE has since helped more than 9,000 families in what is often the most confusing and desperate times of their lives. In addition to providing services for the missing and their families, CUE offers college internships and youth mentoring programs.

CUE is entirely donation funded and staffed by volunteers, including Mrs. Caison, who takes no salary from the organization.

What was simply a dream, name and purpose, is now a nationally-recognized center that answers hundreds of calls for help each year.

The CUE Center hopes to make a difference for everyone concerned with missing persons. Our belief is that we have.

Hurricane Matthew slammed the coast of North and South Carolina after wreaking havoc all the way from the Lesser Antillies, the Caribean Islands, and Florida reaching Category 5 strength on its path of destruction.

Janel Starr created a Facebook page for discussion of the damage, where to get help, and what to do in the aftermath of Matthew. She never realized it would grow in numbers so quickly as more and more people joined to relate their experience.

Janel will discuss some of the heroic stories from her site and discuss what we can do to help in the aftermath.

Dottie Laster, Human trafficking activist and Executive Director of Heidi Search Center, joins this episode to expose the facts.

Dottie Laster spent the last 13 years in the effort of the anti-human trafficking movement nationally and in her home state of Texas. She is the co-founder of the San Antonio, Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking and the past Administrator of the Orange County, California Human Trafficking Task Force and has successfully written millions in grants to assist children and victims of human trafficking.

Along with her position as Executive Director at Heidi Search Center, Laster is the Anti-Trafficking Coordinator with the Bernardo Kohler Center as an accredited representative recognized by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals to practice immigration law under BKC.

To bring Dottie Laster to your community or event, please contact ImaginePublicity, Tel: 843-808-0859 or Email: [email protected]

Josh Melville is the son of Sam Melville, who known in 1960s history as “the mad bomber.” Sam Melville is considered by some historians to be the architect of modern political radicalism in the United States. In 1969 he executed bombings of 8 government institutions. His motivations were stated as corporate imperialism, specifically the US involvement in the Vietnam War, social and racial inequality. 

Melville was subsequently incarcerated in New York’s Attica maximum security prison, where he waged a one-man war against prison administration. He was there in September 1971, when inmates took control of the prison for four days in what became the bloodiest prison uprising in US history. He was killed by police when they stormed the prison, shot at close range while unarmed.

Author of Where's Heidi: One Sister's Journey, Lisa M. Buske writes:

"In 1994, my only sister was abducted while working alone at a local convenience store. The journey starts with an early morning phone call then details of the emotions, grief, and confusion felt in those first moments while transitioning through the days, months, and years that follow. 

A sibling's journey is different from that of a parent. Our role and feelings cannot compare yet they are just as important. Parents experience the greatest loss of their lives through the loss of their child and the emotional loss of the surviving children is just as traumatic. I lost more than my sister on April 3,1994 I lost my faith. Thanks to the boldness and faith of a child, I have hope and a story to share." 

Website: lisambuske.com

People like Karin Bergholm don’t come along very often, and when you meet one of them, you know you have met someone very special. Someone who dedicates themselves to influencing the world around them for the better. A friend-to-the-end, a person that stands up for the little guy and defends the defenseless, who cares for creatures great and small who cannot tell us their needs, wants and pain.

A dedicated searcher for CUE Center for Missing Persons, Karin is an integral part of the organization, and "family." Battling cancer, Karin is in need of special funding to assist with her responsibilities. We are gathering in this episode to tell the world what an impact she has made and appeal for generosity in giving.

Donate here: https://www.youcaring.com/karin-bergholm-642539

This episode highlights the 2006 disappearance and presumed death of Michelle Hutchings of Clinton, New York. The then 27-year-old was last seen on Bleeker Street in Utica on July 30, 2006. The case is unsolved.

Joining us to talk about the case is Oneida County, New York, Undersheriff Robert Swenszkowski.

January 2004 in Maysville, Oklahoma, Sheila Deviney dropped her children off at school, returned and was burned to death in her home. Initially ruled an accidental house fire it was later discovered that flammable fluid was found around her body. The facts of the case state she was in an abusive relationship with her ex-husband resulting in custody and child support issues. There has never been any charges filed in this case.

Sheila's mother, Susan Deviney, joins the show to inform listeners on the details of the case and updates in their search for justice.

Joe Samaha and his family lived through one of the most horrific tragedies of our time, the Virginia Tech Shooting on April 16, 2007 in Blacksburg, VA. Losing his daughter to the shooting was traumatic in many ways and a devastating loss to his family.

Currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Campus Safety Initiative, he is involved in many positive projects in memory of his daughter, Reema.