GordonUnleashed

Libertarian solutions to real world problems

July 16th, 2007 by Steve

Remember Bob Smither, the Libertarian Party congressional candidate who did fairly well in Tom DeLay’s old district? Classically Liberal has an interesting posting up which shows how voluntary organizations can often be more effective than government solutions.

The problem, Chapter One:

Mangum poured lighter fluid on the body and set it alight and then buried it in a shallow grave. Mangum says that he believes “in his heart” that what he did that day was right.

A private, non profit, volunteer organization, Texas EquuSearch, got involved in the case. EquuSearch founder Tim Miller was told that Cummings credit cards had been used. He then found out that Mangum’s grandfather had a ranch a few miles away. Without any power to search property involuntarily Miller had to ask permission. He explained to Robert Mangum what he believed had happened. The 90-year-old man said to Miller: “If what you tell me is true, I’ll never have another birthday.” He granted permission for the search and later identified his grandson for the police.

The problem, Chapter Two:

When Laura Miller disappeared her father went to the police. He was especially concerned since, only a few months earlier, the remains of a young woman had been found not far away. Miller wrote:

I told the police officer taking the report of my concerns, and would they please check the area where she had been found, or tell me where it was located so that I might check myself. Of course they said Laura was sixteen, she ran away and will be coming back home.

Miller told the police that his daughter had problems with seizures and required medication. She knew this and wouldn’t run away without her medicine, which was still at home. Police told him that girls her age are smart and can find what they want on the streets. Miller found that explanation bizarre.

Three days later Miller discovered that the young girl who had been found had lived only four blocks away. “So I went back to the police station to tell them my new worries about the close location of our houses…” He was told to go home and wait, that eventually his daughter will call home and he will see was worrying about nothing. He asked the police to reveal the location where the other girl had been found so he could do his own search. The police refused to tell him.

Miller did wait. For almost two years he continued to pester the police, asking them to do their job. He was dismissed every time. Miller was depressed and became suicidal. He sought hospitalization because of the seriousness of the situation. It was there that he finally learned the truth.

Some kids on dirt bikes smelled something in the field one day while Miller was in hospital. When they went to see what it was they discovered a body of a young woman. It was not Laura but when police finally investigated they found Laura’s body not far away. So in two years three young girls were killed and their bodies dumped in the same location. There was a serial killer in the area and the inactivity of the police allowed him to continue.

The problem, Chapter Three:

Laura Smither, a 12 year-old girl, was abducted on April 3, 1997, while jogging close to her home in Friendswood, Texas. Over 6,000 people took part in a massive nationwide search. Her body was found on April 20, 1997, On April 23rd she would have been 13 years old.

A voluntary, community-based solution:

Laura’s father, Bob Smither, is a Libertarian Party activist and believes in the power of private co-operation to solve problems. He and his wife, Gay, founded the Laura Recovery Center to assist in the search for missing persons. The Center is also an entirely private organization that takes no tax funding.

One day Miller was working with Smither at the Center when they started talking. Smither suggested to Miller that, since he was an avid horseman, he might be able to organize a volunteer horseback search team. Miller agreed and word was spread. Soon Miller had 45 people regularly attending monthly meetings.

But some volunteers didn’t have horses. But they had boats, planes, even helicopters. Others had all terrain vehicles with night vision and infrared equipment. Some were certified rescue divers.

Out of his own frustration with the police, and from Bob Smither’s libertarian vision for solving problems, Texas EquuSearch was born. It now has 2,500 members and has helped people, not just in Texas, but around the world. Miller says that their goal is that “no family has to experience the feeling of hopelessness and loneliness if a loved one should ever disappear.” It is a mission they take seriously and one they perform long after the police have moved on to other matters.

While I’ve never met Miller, I know and admire Bob Smither. In my opinion, people like them are the real heroes in life.

Props.

Posted in It's a Southern Thang, Libertarian Party, Libertarian Movement