Jardine: Help for victims' families might vanish

By Jeff Jardine
jjardine@modbee.com

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A poster last year offering a $10,000 reward in the disappearance of a 33-year-old woman from Thief River Falls, Minn., caught Tracy Mayo's eye.

Thief River Falls is less than 150 miles from Mayo's home in Fargo, N.D., which, in the northern Great Plains, makes it a close neighbor. But what really grabbed Mayo's eye was that the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation of Modesto put up the money.

"It's just amazing that their arms have reached out and touched people all over the nation," Mayo said. The same foundation offered a $5,000 reward when Mayo's mother, 64-year-old Nita Mayo of Nevada, vanished from the Donnell Vista Point in the Sierra Nevada east of Sonora in August 2005.

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But unless a miracle occurs by Friday, an organization that has aided victims' families in 48 states will become a victim itself - of changing lives, changing times and a faltering economy.

The Sund-Carrington foundation's executive board will vote on whether to dissolve the decade-old nonprofit that helps families deal with the angst and horrendous grief of having a loved one disappear, while keeping missing persons cases in the public's eye.

Founders Francis and Carole Carrington of Eureka recently told directors they will no longer continue to help fund the foundation. They are retiring and will move to southern Nevada. The Carringtons are well into their 70s, and their business interests -- which include shopping centers - have felt the bite of the recession.

"We're very proud of what we've done," Francis Carrington said. "It's been a glorious 10 years. We've done a lot of good. (But) between age and the economy and moving and 10 different other things, it's just time."

Several months ago, the foundation began developing a strategic plan to fund itself without so much reliance upon the Carringtons' generosity.

"But now that we've lost our benefactor, we'd need money well before the plan would have been successful," said board chairman Philip Trompetter, who agreed two days ago to delay the vote by a week. This gives executive director Scott Webb a week to crunch more numbers and present a plan that would keep the foundation afloat through September.

"I think the writing's on the wall," Trompetter said. "Unless someone steps up, my expectation is that (Friday) we would initiate the dissolution process."

Nonprofits and charities everywhere are hurting because of the recession, so now is not the best time to expand fund-raising efforts. Major cases such as the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu of Tracy will compel people to contribute, Webb said. But there is an inherent risk in asking for donations during such grim times.

"It's very difficult identifying how to do that respectfully," he said. "You don't want to use such a horrendous situation to raise money. We're not like the Red Cross, which can raise money for hurricane relief during a hurricane."

The Carringtons contributed nearly half of the foundation's $249,165 income in fiscal 2008-09. The foundation has more than $250,000 in outstanding reward offers, though some expire after six months and only about 8 percent is ever claimed.

They formed the foundation in Modesto just weeks after the bodies of daughter Carole Sund, granddaughter Juli Sund and family friend Silvina Pelosso of Argentina were found in the Sierra Nevada and foothills after the trio disappeared during a sightseeing trip to Yosemite in February 1999.

"We didn't know what to do when we had our case," Francis Carrington said. "I had to self-educate. I learned I could post a reward and get things done. I learned more from the press than anybody else. When (law enforcement) had a press conference, I would not talk to anyone. But I watched the press question law enforcement and put it right to 'em. I could see where we had to get the message out. You have to get out and fight more and more."