78R11574 MW-D

By:  Taylor                                                       H.R. No. 728



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The Laura Recovery Center Foundation is dedicated to 
finding missing children, and the efforts of this worthwhile 
organization are deserving of special legislative recognition; and
	WHEREAS, The Laura Recovery Center was established in 
response to the abduction of Laura Kate Smither on April 3, 1997, 
near her home in Friendswood; an unprecedented relationship of 
cooperation, now called the Triangle of Trust, developed between 
Laura's family, the Friendswood Police Department, and the 
community, as  more than 6,000 volunteers tirelessly searched for 
the 12-year-old girl, whose body was found 17 days later; and
	WHEREAS, Emerging from this heart-wrenching experience was 
the Laura Recovery Center Foundation, a beacon of hope and support 
for other missing children and their families; the foundation works 
to establish emergency preparedness action plans in every 
community, fostering a Triangle of Trust among family members, 
citizens, and law enforcement, and improving the response time 
critical to recovering missing children; and
	WHEREAS, The Laura Recovery Center Foundation provides 
education to the public, offering the Laura Recovery Center Manual 
to citizens faced with a missing child incident as well as tactical 
support in the recovery effort; in the event that a child is 
reported missing, the center helps to immediately establish a 
mobile recovery center and then helps in the search; and
	WHEREAS, A source of comfort and urgent assistance to the 
family of a missing child, the Laura Recovery Center Foundation is 
an admirable endeavor that benefits countless Texans in the most 
difficult of times; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas 
Legislature hereby recognize and commend the organizers and staff 
of the Laura Recovery Center Foundation and extend to them sincere 
best wishes for success in the future; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for the Laura Recovery Center Foundation as an expression 
of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.