News Releases
CALGARY – The search for missing children is heating up, thanks to Calgary Flames alumni Craig Conroy throwing his support behind the Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC). The Flames’ Special Assistant to the General Manager has signed on as a board member of the locally-based organization, and he has already scored some big points.
“We are excited to have Craig on our team,” said Amanda Pick, Executive Director of MCSC. “As a dedicated family man, and someone who knows the value of a strong team, Craig brings so much passion to our board, our organization and our search for missing children.”
Joining the MCSC board in summer 2011, Craig kicked off his support by headlining the inaugural Street Hockey Home Game, a private street hockey event which was held on July 9th. Craig spent an afternoon playing street hockey in Calgary with a great crowd of kids and neighbourhood friends. The game had been offered as a silent auction item at last year’s MCSC annual Candlelight Gala, and the opportunity will be offered again at this year’s gala event on March 27th.
Thanks to the generous support of the creative minds at Joe Media, the Street Hockey Home Game event was also an opportunity to film a series of PSAs with Craig. The PSAs feature MCSC’s I STOP movement which aims to engage Canadians in taking a personal action to end child abduction. Craig’s I STOP video, which also showcases the fun Street Hockey Home Game event, can be viewed below:
Craig’s support really heats up in March, with two different Conroy-focused events supporting MCSC. The first event is the Craig Conroy Roast on March 7th organized by the Calgary Flames’ Foundation for Life. Proceeds of that event will support the Flames Foundation and MCSC.
Then later that month, Craig and his family will host MCSC’s Candlelight Gala on March 27th at Flames Central, with SportsNet’s Rob Kerr as emcee.
Details on MCSC’s gala are available at www.mcsc.ca/candlelight-gala.
Search prompted after tip received following joint press conference with MCSC in September
Comox Valley RCMP - On December 6th and 7th members of the Comox Valley Detachment, with the assistance of a Forensic Identification Specialist from E Division Headquarters conducted a search of a rural property in Royston, B.C.
The search was prompted by a tip from the public that was received after the September 2011 press conferenceheld in regards to the 1993 disappearance of 14 year old Lindsey NICHOLLS.
Unfortunately the search ended without identifying further information. However we are grateful to the community for their continued support in the search for Lindsey. Every piece of information that comes forward is critical in the ongoing investigation - even if it helps eliminate an area of investigation. We commend the Comox Valley RCMP for their dedication to this case. And we continue to stand by Lindsey's family in this difficult journey.
To read the RCMP's offical press release, click here.
MCSC commends partner efforts as new chapter begins for family
Please read the PDF of our Child Search Alert: Sigourney Chisholm - Child Search Alert
When six-year-old Tania Murrell disappeared from Edmonton, Alberta in 1983, the search efforts for her received national media attention and inspired the first non-profits in Canada dedicated to the search for missing children. These first agencies focused on public awareness and prevention programs. With the exception of poster distributions, little attention was put on the actual search for missing children or on support for searching families.
Out of this need to do more for searching families, the Missing Children Society of Canada was created in November 1986. Now 25 years later, MCSC has assisted law enforcement and searching families in thousands of cases.
MCSC was originally founded by Rhonda Morgan, who would serve as the organization’s Executive Director for the next 23 years until her retirement in January 2010. Rhonda’s vision and passion built MCSC into a national organization dedicated to continuing the active search for missing children. That vision and passion is continued today under the leadership of current Executive Director, Amanda Pick, with a focus on strengthening partnerships and embracing new technologies.
November 2011 marks our 25th anniversary of the ongoing search for missing children. As the month of our anniversary draws to a close, we remain committed as ever to continuing the search for our missing children and reuniting them with their searching families. There are many families and missing children who need our help, including Tania Murrell who is still missing.
Looking now to the future, we thank you all for being part of the effort to bring our missing children home.
(For more information about our History, visit our “Inside MCSC” page.)
Please see the PDF of our Child Search Alert for Khalid and Ahmed Abubaker: Abubaker - Child Search Alert
Media Contact in Courtenay, BC:
Comox Valley Detachment, RCMP
Sgt. Paul West
250-218-4852
Paul.WEST@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Poynt empowers nearly 10 million users globally to take a stand in the fight against child abduction
Calgary, Canada — Poynt Corporation (TSX-V: PYN) ("Poynt Corp." or the "Company") and the Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC) today go live with their previously announced geo-targeted notification system to push Child Search Alerts to Poynt users globally. These child search alerts will be available to Poynt users on BlackBerry smartphone, iPhone and Android devices.
A first-of-its-kind geo-targeted notification system through an app, Poynt aids in the timely location and recovery of missing or abducted children. When a child goes missing or new information on their whereabouts is received, time is of the utmost importance. By pushing geo-relevant Child Search Alerts to Poynt users already in the vicinity of a missing child, Poynt and MCSC will be able to quickly disseminate important information to aid in the recovery of missing children. The Child Search Alerts will direct Poynt users to a mobile website where they can view information about the missing child including pictures, a physical description, background details, information about other potential people who are with the child, as well as the areas where the child is thought to be located.
The Missing Children Society of Canada, a registered Canadian charity, will enter push notifications as they obtain timely information on a missing child. Poynt users will then be notified via push notification that a child has been potentially sighted within a relevant radius of where they were last sighted. Users do not have to be using Poynt at the time to receive a notification; notifications will be made based on the Poynt users last known location. On iPhone, a pop-up dialogue will appear notifying the user that a missing child might be in their area. On Android and BlackBerry a notifications icon will appear at the top of the phone. The system will have an opt-out option which can be found in the menu on each device.
“Being socially responsible and giving back to our community is an important part of how we feel we can make an impact. We value our families and locating missing children is a cause near and dear to us,” said Andrew Osis, President and CEO of Poynt Corp. “The capabilities of our location technology to target an area at a critical moment where a child’s life can be saved, is the perfect fit for us. The addition of Child Search Alerts enables our users to positively impact their communities in a simple yet highly effective manner, and that really has a greater societal impact.”
“We know that this push system will bring children home,” said Amanda Pick, Executive Director of MCSC. “Being able to immediately engage people in a pin-pointed area where we are conducting an investigation or where a missing child has recently been sighted is a game-changer in the search for missing children.”
“Increasingly, our investigators are working parental abduction cases that cross international borders,” continued Pick. “The ability to connect with Poynt’s existing, engaged 10 million users around the world is a huge asset to our investigation team. Most importantly, it’s a huge asset to our searching families.”
“Whether a child has been missing for 5 minutes or 5 years, communicating time-sensitive information in a case’s breakthrough moment is going to make the difference in bringing that child back to safety.”
Over 50,000 children are reported missing every year in Canada. Founded in 1986, MCSC is the only non-profit organization in Canada that has an in-house team of former law enforcement investigators that actively search for missing children.
Poynt is a convenient and timesaving GPS-enabled mobile application that connects consumers to local businesses, events, restaurants, movie theatres, gas prices and weather information at the moment they are looking to buy or acquire products or services. Poynt provides consumers with the ability to move beyond discovery of their local area to view movie trailers and reviews, buy movie tickets, click-to-call businesses, get directions, browse listing websites, read reviews and book dining reservations.
Poynt is available as a free download for users in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Australia on BlackBerry® smartphones, BlackBerry Playbook™ tablet, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Nokia devices from the respective App Stores. Poynt is also available via Over the Air download at m.poynt.com.
About Poynt Corporation
Poynt Corp. (about.poynt.com) is a global leader in the mobile local advertising space. Its Location Based Search (LBS) application, Poynt (www.poynt.com), enhances a user’s ability to connect with the people, businesses and events most important to them. Poynt is available on iPhone and iPod Touch, Android, Nokia QT and Windows Phone 7 devices, BlackBerry® smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook™ Tablets in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. Poynt Corp. entered the mobile publishing space with the recent acquisition of an advertising publishing platform in January 2011. Key contracts on both the supply and demand sides are in place to provide inventory into the platform and publishers to display the inventory. Whether through the Poynt Local Search App or the Ad Publishing Platform, Poynt Corp. simplifies connecting consumers with businesses, retailers and events. Headquartered in Calgary, AB, Canada, Poynt Corp. trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PYN.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. Apple App Store and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Android is a registered trademark of Google Inc. Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation.
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For further information, please contact: Poynt Contact: Andrew Osis, President & CEO Tel 403-313-3719 www.poynt.com Public Relations Contact: Evie Carter FortyThree PR, Inc. Tel 831-401-3175 poynt@43pr.com
Missing Since:
Nov, 13 2006
Date of Birth:
Oct, 08 1989
Missing From:
Delta, British Columbia
Missing Children



