Family gathers to remember Justin Gaines

Family gathers to remember missing teen
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
2, 2007, when the Snellville teen — then an 18-year-old freshman at Oconee campus of Gainesville College in Athens — disappeared from a Duluth nightclub. ...

Difficult Christmas for Justin Gaines' Family

» Tough Christmas for Missing Teen's Family
WXIA-TV - Atlanta,GA,USA
He misses his younger brother, Justin Gaines, who's been missing now for nearly two months. His absence is felt hardest by his parents Steven and Erika Wilson...

"Every day is harder. New Year's is going to be hard because it will be two months that he hasn't been home if he doesn't come home before then," said his mother.

Grainy Video of Justin Gaines at Wild Bills has Surfaced

Big enough news for me to break my blog-hiatus

A grainy, 10 second long video showing Justin Gaines at Wild Bill's has been found.
A private investigator hired by Justin's family located it after watching surveillance videos from the bar. It is among the last sightings of the teenager. Perhaps it will yield some clues.
WSB full story here

Video from 11Alive News
On this one, you can actually see the footage of Justin.

Fox5 News Atlanta
Shows the video and some pleas from family and friends for Justin's safe return.

http://www.justingaines.com

GA State Defense Force Joins Search for Justin Gaines

I have been trying to keep up with the latest news in the disappearance of a Gwinnett teenager named Justin Gaines, who has been missing since the beginning of November.
Justin graduated from Brookwood High School here in Snellville.

The latest I have heard is that the Georgia State Defense Force, a volunteer group, will be joining the searches. This is a good thing, because the numbers of searchers have been dwindling - maybe it's because of the holiday, I'm not sure - but it could be the creeping sense of dread that I have written about previously. People are all gung-ho to go on searches in the beginning, and then later I think people get so depressed about the lack of progress that they just find it hard to face it anymore. I know it makes me sad - I wish I could do more about it than just work here and there when I can on my blog to get some word out about the latest news and updates on Justin Gaines.

When I check my blog hit-counter, 90% of the hits to this blog lately have all been searching for news on Justin, so I work to continue to provide it. I do still feel though, that for the most accurate and up-to-date information, people should regularly check Justin Gaines' website at www.JustinGaines.com . Please check there for information on donating money to make sure you will be sending to the correct places. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people in the world, and you want to make sure your donation does go to the family as you intend it to.

The Georgia State Defense force will add 100 searchers. They are citizen-soldiers, they are not armed, but they are trained in search and rescue missions.

WSB Story
Channel 46 related news video

Donate to Justin Gaines Search Fund

You may have heard that there is a $50,000 reward for the return of Justin Gaines to his family, and there is a $10,000 reward for valid information that leads the search to Justin.

Keep in mind that those are just reward funds, funds earmarked only for rewards. That is not money for the family to live on while they conduct the search. It is traumatic emotionally as well as financially. Obviously it has been impossible for Justin's parents to work during this time.

Even if you can only send $5, that is worthwhile. Every little bit adds up.

"We have two banks set up one in GA and one in OH for donation to be used for the search for Justin and for unexpected expenses that the family is experiencing during their time of need searching for Justin and not being able to work."

Checks should be made out to: Justin Gaines Search Fund

and here are the banks

Peoples Bank
c/o Michael Wilson
P.O. Box 1277
Lithonia, GA 30058

and

National City Bank
c/o Justin Gaines Search Fund
34305 Center Ridge Rd.
North Ridgeville, Ohio 44039

Justin Gaines Tribbit Page

I have tried out the Tribbit website that I mentioned yesterday. It is incredible and very easy to use.

I made a page for Justin Gaines today, so if you will contribute to the page, that would be great.
By 'contribute,' I mean add comments or messages, photos, etc.

The page URL is: http://www.tribbit.com/JustinGaines
or Click Here. The more traffic the page gets, the more people will see it, and maybe the 'right' person will see it and be moved to tell what they know about Justin's disappearance. It certainly can't hurt.

Justin is 18, and his acquaintances probably use the Internet quite a bit.
There are already MySpace users who have changed their MySpace Avatar (personal image) to Justin's picture, blogged about his disappearance, and are adding each other to their MySpace friend's list and adjusting their 'Top Friends' to show other MySpace users who have changed their picture to Justin's. This is a great free way of getting the word out.

Command Center for Justin Gaines search

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- Family and friends of a missing Gwinnett County teen are now getting some help from a professional team of searchers.It has been two weeks since 18-year-old Justin Gaines disappeared from a Duluth bar. Thursday, dozens of volunteers scoured the area for any sign of Gaines.

Texas EquuSearch last helped find the missing grandson of an Alabama senator in Georgia. Now, they’ve set up a command center at Berkmar United Methodist Church to find Gaines.

Full story from AJC

Now from me:
Berkmar United Methodist church is on Pleasant Hill Road. The search is going on today. It started at 8:30 am. Volunteer searchers were advised to wear very warm clothes, closed-toe shoes, hats, etc. The search is being guided by the professional searchers from Texas EquuSearch, who have arrived from Texas. The founder of EquuSearch lost his own daughter in 1984, and that was the impetus for starting the search organization. It is non-profit, they do it out of the goodness of their hearts, because they have been there.

Folks on the ScanGwinnett forums are working on getting some donations of catered food, drinks, ice, etc from local businesses like Chick-Fil-A of Snellville, Frontera of Snellville, Papa John's and Pizza Hut. I think they said Frontera is donating the ice. As you can imagine, it's a big deal to feed and support a lot of hungry searchers. So if you know anyone who manages or owns a food establishment, maybe you can ask them if they can help. The location to take the things would be the Berkmar Methodist Church. I imagine they will continue to search tomorrow.

Updated information on Justin Gaines disappearance

Erica and Steve Wilson, the mother and stepfather of 18-year-old Justin Gaines, have done everything they can think of to find their son since he vanished from Wild Bill's nightclub in Duluth two weeks ago. They've organized search parties, hired a private investigator, collected $50,000 for a reward fund for his safe return and just this week set up a toll-free tip line at 1-877-270-9500.....

Gwinnett police say they have no reason to suspect Gaines was a victim of foul play, and they are still treating the disappearance as a missing-person case. The investigation has slowed over the past week because some associates of Gaines have been uncooperative, said Cpl. Illana Spellman, spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Anyone with information on Gaines' whereabouts is urged to contact the department's Criminal Investigations Section at 770-513-5300

AJC Article Link

Audio Feed Frequently Updated with Newest Information (thanks Mark)

Justin Gaines: Donations needed to increase reward

The Early County News of Blakely GA is on the Justin Gaines story. Read it here: LINK

Missing Loganville Teen Tammy Nelson

Tammy Nelson
Date of Birth May 4, 1992
Height 5'7", Weight 140

Tammy was last seen at the Huntington Ridge Subdivision in Loganville GA on Saturday November 10, 2007 at 11 am. Anyone with information should call Brandy Nelson at 770-466-0214 or Detective Jim Preson, Loganville Police Department, at 770-466-8087, or dial 911

UPDATE 12 November 2007 : Tammy was located at a friend's house - apparently a friend unknown to her family. Tammy is safe.