Missing Children

I just got this email about a missing child -- the request was to forward it on to as many people as possible, with the hope that somewhere she would be recognized. Well, before forwarding it on, I wanted to make sure that this girl really was missing. She was from SC, and I figured I would have heard something in the news or read something in the papers. So I looked up the national registry for missing children, and lo and behold, nothing matching her description was posted. I decided not to waste anybody else's time. Perhaps it's heartless of me, but I think it's awful to perpetuate a lie.
In any case, while looking up the national registry, I was really struck by some of the postings. Most of them were girls, teenagers, and I figured they probably ran away from home. Yet in some cases, the children had been missing for over 10 years. One post had the picture of a baby girl who has been missing for 14 years. It was so sad, because... well, first of all, she's pretty much guaranteed to be dead. And even if she isn't, there is no way that I would recognize a fourteen year old from her baby picture. So it's pointless to put it up there, if one's intent is to find her. And I don't think that that's the point. Somewhere, I can't help but think that her parents are still hoping for a miracle. And keeping her name on the registry is a way to hold on to that hope. It's depressing and it makes no sense. But, then again, I can't possibly imagine how tragic the loss of one's child would be.