The Missing Children Society of Canada has been "my biggest support," says Gina Degerness about her five years without her son Lucas.
In 2007, Lucas (or Luke as he is often known) walked away from PGSS. It was June 7 and he just finished a meeting in the the vice-principal's office with Gina and school officials. He skipped a class, spent the night at a friend's house, and has not been seen or heard from since.
Police were on the hunt within hours of Gina's emotional call, and within months of the disappearance the case was also taken up by the private investigators of the Missing Children Society of Canada.
Degerness is legally an adult now, but MCSC investigator Ted Davis was in Prince George on Thursday, the anniversary of the disappearance, to reconfirm the society's commitment.
"This is an important case to us," he said. "It has baffled us a lot because it is not of the normal sort. In Luke's case, it is one of the ones in my 15 years that's baffled me the most. We won't quit."
The society's executive director, Amanda Pick, was also in Prince George for the occasion. She said Degerness was such a mystery .
Did he disappear due to running away or foul play? Was he alive? Was he in this city or another place? Is he trying to remain anonymous or is he being hidden against his will?
Those questions are motivating the MCSC to work even harder for Gina and the large circle of loved ones pleading with the public for information.
"It's time to bring Lucas home. It's time to bring answers. Don't be quiet if you are holding that piece of information. We are asking you to be brave," said Pick.
In Davis's experience, MCSC often gets tips called in to them, or disclosed to their investigators, that wouldn't be given to police, for a number of reasons.
Pick said the MCSC had 275 files either ongoing or fresh in 2011 and they successfully closed 141 of them.
Gina said, "I don't care what it is or how it comes in, but I want to know about my son. I have the belief that he is around, that he is here for us in some way."
If you have any information about Lucas James Degerness or where he might be, please contact the Prince George RCMP at (250)561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1(800)222-TIPS (8477), online at www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca, or Text-A-Tip to CRIMES (274637) using keyword "pgtips".
Anonymous information can also be passed on to the Missing Children Society of Canada, which is helping to investigate. To contact MCSC, call 1-800-661-6160 toll free or email tips@mcsc.ca.
OPTIONAL SIDEBAR
Searching Social Media
Amanda Pick, executive director of the Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC) urged Prince George residents to take the next step in the spirit of Amber Alert.
The MCSC is the base for the latest social media innovation helping law enforcement catch criminals and helping families keep their children safe, through valuablenetwork.ca.
"It is the world's first online search party," said Pick. "It allows every Canadian, and everyone in the online social media world, to be part of reuniting families across the country. It's as easy as two clicks," she said.
A Canadian software company with connections to the Missing Children Society of Canada invented the program and donated it to the MCSC.
The way it works is, those who are on Facebook or Twitter can donate their news feeds (no personal profile information or passwords are ever asked for, seen or used in any way). When a legitimate missing child incident occurs, the MCSC can send an alert that automatically pops up in your regular news feed on your laptop, home computer or smart phone.
"We know two things are critical for an abductor: time and anonymity," Pick said. "This helps take those things away. We are going to send that information out across Canada in seconds."
It costs nothing to donate your news feed, and the MCSC estimates you'll only receive notices from them four to five times a year. It would be a simple item streamed into your regular feed of news feed like when one of your social media "friends" posts something. It does not tap into your Facebook or Twitter profile, just gives you the news item when a child goes missing. It allows the fan-out to spread across the web faster and farther than any other media source.
For more information, log on to www.valuablenetwork.ca.
