Sunday, January 03, 1999
Missing-girl case featured on TV show
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MILLVILLE — The case of a 16-year-old girl who ran away with her criminally charged 35-year-old boyfriend — who owes more than $30,000 in child support for his own children — is about to gain national exposure.
Ed and Kathleen McCoy, parents of Bessie Lou McCoy, hope that an upcoming broadcast of The Maury Povich Show will lead to her return home and end a painful chapter in their lives.
“We feel that national coverage is our only hope,” Mrs. McCoy said.
Although Mrs. McCoy has seen fliers about Bessie's disappearance posted “all over the place,” in Trenton, Lebanon, Franklin and other communities, she believes they will do little good. She and police believe her daughter has fled the state.
“Almost every day, people ask me: "Did she come back yet?' And they get almost as disappointed as I am because there's a "no' response,” Mrs. McCoy said.
Bessie Lou has been missing since Sept. 21. Authorities think she ran away with James H. “Jay” Smith of Trenton. Mr. Smith has been indicted on seven charges: a felony count of corruption of a minor and six misdemeanor counts of contributing to the unruliness of a child.
The McCoys had hoped Bessie would become so homesick that she would find her way home during the holidays. Her parents fear that even if Bessie wants to come home, Mr. Smith might not let her because he fears prosecution. They have had no reason to think he would hurt her, but they miss her and are worried about her just the same.
“I cried all night on Thanksgiving — and on Christmas, we left the state. We just couldn't stand to be around the house without her,” Mrs. McCoy, 33, said.
After learning of the McCoys' plight, producers from Mr. Povich's show arranged for the McCoys to fly to New York City, where their story was taped for a segment about the problem of missing children.
Bessie's picture is among those posted on the Internet site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That agency is trying to help locate about 5,000 children, but FBI figures show those cases are a small fraction of the total missing children.
“It makes me sick to realize how many kids are out there missing and how many moms are up all night worrying, not even knowing if their children are alive or dead,” Mrs. McCoy said.
For the taping of The Maury Povich Show, parents of missing children from Texas and Kentucky joined the McCoys, along with John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted. Mr. Walsh began crusading on behalf of crime victims and missing children after his 6-year-old son, Adam, was abducted and slain in 1981.
No air date has been set, but the segment is expected to be broadcast within the next several weeks, a spokesman for the show said.
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