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Child's protectors honored

TALLAHASSEE - Darlene Worthen-Smith was scared at first when she saw a man stop his car and grab an 8-year-old boy in Jacksonville last November. But that didn't stop her, her husband and an adult son from getting involved.

They received the 2005 Citizen of the Year Award from Gov. Jeb Bush at Florida's annual Missing Children's Day ceremony Monday.

"A lot of people don't like to get involved, but we got involved," Worthen-Smith said in an interview.

She, husband Joseph Smith and their 21-year-old son, Justin Smith, stopped their van, yelled for the boy to run away, made sure he was safe and called 911. They also stopped the car driver long enough to get a good look at him and his tag number before he drove off. Police caught him minutes later and the family identified him.

"He stated that it had been his longtime fantasy to abduct a young boy," said Donna Uzzell, director of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Missing Children Information Clearinghouse.

"If not for the immediate and heroic action by this family the 8-year-old child could have met with unthinkable tragedy," she said.

Bush noted that about 51,000 children were reported missing in Florida last year. Ninety-five percent were runaways, and fewer than 1 percent were considered victims of predatory abductions.

Also recognized were several law enforcement officers and agencies, and three girls who escaped from would-be abductors. The girls were identified only by first names for their protection.

Eight-year-old Takierra was riding her bicycle when a man stopped his car and offered her candy, Uzzell said. She ran to a neighbor's house and the man drove away, but he then abducted a boy 5 miles away. Takierra gave police information that was passed on to the media. Authorities think that helped prompt the kidnapper to release the boy.

A man grabbed 7-year-old Payton while she stood in line to buy ice cream with her grandparents, Uzzell said. She was able to wriggle free and other adults held the suspect until police arrived.

Fifteen-year-old Arielle was waiting for a school bus when a man grabbed her, Uzzell said. She got away and called her mother on her cell phone.

Participating parents included John Walsh, whose 6-year-old son, Adam, was kidnapped from a Broward County department store in 1981 and murdered. Adam's parents co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va., in 1984. John Walsh hosts the television program America's Most Wanted .

Don and Claudine Ryce, whose 9-year-old son, Jimmy, was raped and murdered in 1995 in Miami-Dade County, received the John and Reve Walsh Award for founding the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abductions and serving on the Missing Children Information Clearing House Advisory Board. Don Ryce is chairman.

Among other honorees were Ethan Smith, a fourth-grader at Centennial Elementary School in Dade City, winner of a statewide essay contest.

[Last modified September 13, 2005, 01:45:22]