Hey there, beloved readers! I just received an email from another one of my readers, who excitedly pointed out that the young man whose photograph I posted on my previous article, was actually a missing person.
The AP photograph (below) helped his parents to locate him and become reunited with him after he was missing in the brutal cold for four days now.
Amazing how God works!
-Pamela Rae Schuffert-
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Article from FOX NEWS
(Nicholas Simmons, pictured in my previous article)
Nicholas Simmons disappeared from
his parents' house in a small upstate New York town on New Year's Day,
leaving behind his wallet, cell phone and everything else.
Four days later, an Associated
Press photographer, looking for a way to illustrate unusually cold weather,
snapped his picture as he warmed himself on a steam grate a few blocks from the
U.S. Capitol.
Paul and
Michelle Simmons saw the AP photograph in USA Today Sunday morning after it was
brought to their attention through a Facebook page set up to help find their
son, according to police and family friends.
The
photo, taken Saturday by AP photographer Jacquelyn Martin, showed Simmons with
his unshaven face pressed against a grate outside the Federal Trade Commission.
He wore a ski jacket and a hood over his head. A thick gray blanket covered his
lower body.
Martin
was assigned to the White House that weekend, but with President Barack Obama
still on vacation in Hawaii, she spent the day looking for shots that would
illustrate the cold weather. That is how she found Nick Simmons, in an area
where homeless people often gather when it is frigid outside. She found a
cluster of men huddled around the grate, introduced herself and started taking
pictures.
Then she
noticed one person in particular, huddled under a blanket.
"It
struck me how young he was," Martin said. "I again introduced myself
and shook his hand. He said his name was Nick."
Martin
finished shooting, sent the pictures to the wire and then called it a day. The
next day, she received a message via Twitter from USA Today.
The
newspaper had run the photo of Nick and was contacting Martin to tell her that
Nick's family had recognized him and was trying to locate him. Michelle Simmons
was certain that the young man in the photograph was her son, missing for four
days.
Police
picked Simmons up Sunday afternoon and took him to a hospital, said Capt.
Patrick Phelan of the Greece, N.Y., police department. Simmons' father, Paul,
and older brother Paul Jr. arrived in Washington Sunday night and were reunited
with Simmons at the hospital, said longtime family friends Peter and Cindy
Gugino of Fairfax Station, Va.
Martin,
the AP photographer, said the episode serves as a reminder to journalists that
every person they encounter has a story to tell.
"It's
really gratifying to see that a photograph can make a tangible difference in
someone's life. That's a really amazing thing to have happened," she said.
"I'm happy and touched that the photograph could help reunite this
family."
Police
said authorities notified local media and tried to investigate the case, but
there were no leads until the publication of the photo.
"It
was pure dumb luck how all this happened," said Sgt. David Mancuso, the
lead investigator. "It's truly a miracle."
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Amen!
-Pamela Rae Schuffert, still staying warm-
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