And from Yahoo News today, January 5th, 2009...
Search begins for Kansas boy missing 10 years
EL DORADO, Kan. – A missing Kansas boy's adoptive parents, who failed to report his disappearance for nearly a decade, are considered "people of interest" in the case as authorities expand their search nationwide, a sheriff said Monday.
Investigators were focused on finding Adam Herrman, who was 11 when he disappeared in 1999 from a mobile home park in Towanda where he lived, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said.
Authorities only recently learned he was missing, and would not say whether they believed he was still alive.
"We are working it as if it is a death — but we are not leaning one way or the other," Murphy said.
His parents, Doug and Valerie Herrman, have not been arrested or charged. Asked why, Murphy replied: "We are not ready is an honest and upfront answer."
Earlier media reports said Adam had a history of running away, but Murphy said investigators have not confirmed that. The boy was adopted by the Herrmans when he was 2 1/2 years old.
The family has cooperated with investigators, he said.
Murphy said a search of the now empty lot where the family's mobile home once stood gave investigators one answer they sought, but he did not elaborate other than to say no human remains were found.
Murphy's office did not receive a missing persons report until contacted recently by Sedgwick County's exploited and missing children's unit. He declined to say who tipped them off. It was not clear exactly when they learned of the boy's disappearance.
Investigators have not found any confirmed data on Adam's whereabouts since 1999.
Murphy asked the public for help, and issued a plea to the missing boy himself: "If Adam Herrman is alive out there — and he would see this — I would ask him to contact us immediately."
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