A Mission to Find The Missing

A Kansas teen who went missing back in November has been found in California, thanks to a Salina-based organization whose purpose is to find missing people. Thanks to Kansas Missing and Unsolved, a teen from Kansas who was living homeless in Los Angeles is home.

James Worley lives in Los Angeles and runs the organization Homeless Lives Matter. Its mission is to assist the homeless on a day to day basis. Through work with the organization, Worley recently met a homeless teen on Hollywood Boulevard.

After doing a little research Worley discovered the teen was 18-year-old Dalton Bell, who was reported missing from Pittsburg, Kansas, back in November. Worley found a Kansas Missing and Unsolved flyer and immediately reached out to Bell’s family.

Bell returned back home to his family in Kansas on Saturday.

Kansas Missing and Unsolved is spear-headed by Ricky Tebrugge in Salina. It was founded on April 28th, 2012.

Over the years Tebrugge, and a small group of friends who help him, have created hundreds of flyers to be shared via social media to disseminate information related to missing people.

Tebrugge tells KSAL News he “couldn’t even begin to guesstimate” the number of people who have been found, but there have been many.

Once Kansas Missing and Unsolved makes the information available, it quickly spreads with people sharing it. The information spreads exponentially via Facebook and Twitter.

Tebrugge’s efforts have been recognized. In February he received a lifetime achievement award from the state of Missouri. Also in February he received a humanitarian award from an organization which fights domestic violence and abuse called G.Y.R.L. (Give Yourself Real Love).

Tebrugge concluded “I have had a lot of families tell me that they believe my flyers have been the reason their loved ones have been found.”