RCMP highlight 6 cases on National Missing Children's Day

Manitoba RCMP and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection are highlighting the cases of six youth as part of National Missing Children's Day Monday.

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Police are still searching for three boys and three girls, all of whom went missing over the span of about eight years.

"It's critical that we keep missing children's stories in the public eye because there's always hope that someone will do the right thing and come forward with new information that could lead to a missing child being located," Christy Dzikowicz, director of Missing Children Services at the Canadian Centre, said in a release.

Supt. Garth Patterson said missing youth cases are among the RCMP`s highest priority investigations.

"It's important for people to understand that they should not wait to report a child as missing," Patterson said in a release.

Marcus McKay

McKay has been missing since July 15, 2000. He was last seen in a wooded area off Bison Road neat Mallard, Man.

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Marcus was four-foot-seven-inches tall when he went missing. Police said he weighed about 75 pounds at that time.

He has brown eyes with dark brown hair.

Dwayne Ross

Ross went missing on Oct. 1, 2003. He was last seen walking a trail through the woods with his cousin in Thompson, Man.

Ross was five-foot-eight-inches tall at the time he went missing, and weighed about 175 pounds.

He has brown eyes and black hair, RCMP said.

Sunshine Wood

Wood went missing Feb. 20, 2004.

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She was five-foot-seven-inches tall and about 220 pounds when she went missing more than a decade ago.

Wood has a tattoo of the word "Sunny" on her left forearm, an "SW" on her left hand and "Destiny" on her right forearm. She also had burn marks on her left forearm.

Waylon Smith

Smith has been since Jan. 17, 2006. He was last seen in the Lake St. Martin area, police said.

Smith was five-foot-nine-inches tall and weighed about 166 pounds at the time he went missing.

He has missing teeth and circular scars on both of his forearms.

Jennifer Catcheway

Catcheway went missing June 19, 2008 from Grand Rapids, Man. She was headed to Portage la Prairie at the time, police said.

She weighed about 165 pounds and was five-foot-seven-inches tall when she went missing.

She has brown eyes and dark brown hair.

Amber McFarland

McFarland was last seen leaving a beer vendor at a Portage la Prairie bar Oct. 18, 2008.

She was five-foot-seven-inches tall and about 136 pounds when she went missing.

She has green eyes and blonde hair.

Anyone with any information regarding any of these missing person cases is asked to contact MissingKids.ca at 1-866-KID-TIPS (543-8477) or the Manitoba RCMP.

National Missing Children's Day

The movement towards National Missing Children's Day began on May 25, 1979, when six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared from a New York City street on his way to school. The massive search and media attention that followed focused international attention to the problem of child abduction and lack of plans to address it.

This momentum grew and as many more missing and murdered children's cases arose, they began to receive an increase in media attention and photographs of missing children began to be placed on milk cartons. In 1983, the U.S. proclaimed May 25 as National Missing Children's Day, followed in 1986 by Canada.

"The Winnipeg Police Service continues to encourage families and guardians to always keep a watchful eye on children in their care, know who their friends are, engage in discussions with them on personal safety issues, and have recent photographs readily available of your children in the event they suddenly go missing," stated a press release from the WPS.

"The potential for an abduction of a child can create real fear and anxiety for families and loved ones. Specific preventative resources for families and communities wishing to reduce children's risk of being abducted are available and can be reached through the Missing Kids website.

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