Marc Klaas Joins Patch's 'Local Voices' Team

Marc Klaas, founder of the KlaasKids Foundation, has been writing a series of blog posts chronicling the search for missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar titled “Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search.”

The title represents what Klaas hopes his blog contribute to the LaMar case: An insider perspective of how searches for are put together, and the various individuals involved. 

“It’s about providing the public with a glimpse of the inner-workings of a search effort for a missing person,” Klaas said. “It’s pretty intimate from an insider perspective. I mean, you read about it in the newspaper and see it on TV, but those are brief snapshots of what's going on. What I’m trying to do is give more insight into these searches and the processes involved.”

In total, Klaas will be sharing over 70 blog posts with Patch readers, 20 of which deal specifically with the LaMar case. It starts with the first day the KlaasKids Foundation became involved in her search in March. 

The number attached to each post will indicate the number of posts written, but the days invested in Sierra’s recovery. For example, Klaas’ first blog appearing on Patch is titled “Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 68,” but the number doesn’t signify the 68th blog post, but the 68th day in the search for Sierra. 

The rest of the blogs are relevant to the issue or missing persons in general, Klaas said. 

The Beginning of KlaasKids

Klaas created the KlaasKids Foundation some years after his 12-year-old daughter, Polly, was kidnapped and murdered on Oct. 1, 1993. The foundation’s goal is to help families of missing people navigate through the many different  challenges when a loved one suddenly disappears. 

“Parents who find themselves in these situations are really left to their own devices,” Klaas said. “They don't know where to turn or what to do. They're unprepared for dealing with the world of crime, dealing with law enforcement, the media and trying to recover their child. We want to spare others the pain that we had to go through, or at least ease their burden as much as we can.” 

In 2011, the KlaasKids Foundation was approached by 217 families seeking help in recovering a missing person. Volunteers conducted searches in 47 of the cases, and resolved 36 of them. The objective of such searches, Klaas said, is to recover the missing person, whether the individual’s dead or alive.

“As a family member you want to know what happened. You don't want to live with constant fear that your child is alive and being tortured, it's as simple as that,” Klaas said. “If they're dead, you want to know they lie in peace. People want to be reunited with their family members—whatever that might mean.”

Klaas’ blog will be published on Patch Monday through Friday, with the first post appearing on the site Wednesday.