Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 22

The Arizona Republic A22 SAIl'KIUY, AUGUST 24, 2(H)2 MISSING Family keeps hope alive for baby girl .7 MISSING i 1 I llll VONOAll KKiCt MM The victims of abduction Victims included children of all ages, with the highest percentage of victims being girls to 14 years old and boys 6 to 9 years old. Two-thirds of short-term abductions involve sexual assault. Most are abducted from the street. More than 85 percent of short-term non-family abductions involve force, and more than 75 percent involve a weapon. The number of short-term abductions is considered an underestimate due to police reporting methods and lack of reporting on the part of victims.

Source: FBI Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit. 623 932 3G60 I mm lv.ii" Al parking lot in Abilene, Texas; Saman-tha Runnion, 5, who was kidnapped July 15 outside her Stanton, home; and Elizabeth Smart, 14, taken from her Salt Lake City home at gun-; point June 5. Nancy was found alive. Samantha was found dead. Elizabeth is still missing.

Jacqueline's case is one of 2,421 ac-- tive missing-children cases in Ari-: zona as of June 30, according to the FBI's National Crime Information Center. Watching the news accounts is a I tormenting reminder. "Jacqueline is the first thing I think about, but I want to learn," Castaneda said. "I want to see how those parents got help to publicize their situation, how the child was kidnapped and what they're doing to find them." When a suspect is arrested in a child abduction case, she wonders if the person is connected somehow to Jacqueline's disappearance. She sees on the television news the faces of parents, racked with grief, begging for the return of their child.

She understands. "I wanted to cry when I saw her face," Castaneda said of Erin Runnion, Samantha's mother. "I know what she's feeling. But it's worse for her. She already knows they killed her daughter.

I still have hope I'll see Jacqueline one day." Memories forced Castaneda, 20, and her family from their home in Avondale to another West Valley city. But hope keeps her going. She doesn't doubt her daughter is still alive. She wonders if she's walking or calling someone else Mommy. When she's alone, running her fingers over Jacqueline's tiny clothes, or trying to sleep at night, she replays that painful day over and over.

Her husband had dropped her off at the swap meet near 123rd Avenue and Buckeye Road. She went into the portable toilet to help Nayeli, then 2 years For now, the family's hopes are pinned on an age-progression drawing being done by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia. Olivia Castafleda gathered more than a dozen old and new photographs of herself, her husband, Jorge Vasquez, and of Nayeli for the drawing. It will be several weeks before the family and public see the artist's sketch of a 19-month-old Jacqueline. Christy Herron, a victim's rights advocate for the Avondale Police Department, reminds Castaneda the drawing won't be exact.

"Anything helps," Castafleda said. Kym Pasqualini, president of Nation's Missing Children Organization, a Phoenix-based non-profit organization that pushed for the drawing, said it may prompt fresh leads. "We feel the potential of this child being out there and alive is very good," she said. "An age progression, if done properly, can be a key in recovering her. There is nothing else we have." Reach the reporter at monica.dunsmoorarizona republic.com or (602) 444-6925.

Brent WhitingThe Arizona Republic Kym Pasqualini, president of the Nation's Missing Children Organization, places missing-child posters on the pickup of Maria Casteneda, grandmother of Jacqueline Vasquez, who vanished from a swap meet in Avondale. poster. The lead went nowhere. But her family continues to see her abductor in every face and their baby in every infant. Police hope someone, perhaps a health care provider, will spot a heart-shaped birthmark on Jacqueline's upper right arm and call authorities.

less. Jacqueline's older sister is not the only one who searches for her. Maria Castaneda, her grandmother, called 911 when it appeared a lady holding a baby quickly walked out of a grocery store after she seemingly noticed Jacqueline's missing-persons old. She put down her daughter, who was tucked into her baby carrier, just outside the bathroom door. When she came out, after just a moment, Jacqueline was gone.

She scrambled through the swap meet, desperate to find her baby. Police arrived, but a search was fruit OAXACA Plan for McDonald's in old square is fought Hi' rt 4 rc 1 Sf It 1 the historic spaces of the city of Oaxaca," Lopez Ramos said. "There the company might have some difficulties." So far, Pro-Oax has collected "thousands of signatures," said secretary Alejandro de Avila, who could not give an exact number because the count continues. He said Pro-Oax has received supportive e-mails from as far away as Finland and Japan. And many of those who signed at the petition table this week were tourists.

Not in this place "In this place (McDonald's) is not good," said Frenchman Emmanuel Visse, who with companion Celine Dodelin planned to stay four days in Oaxaca. "I prefer the cafes, the atmosphere. Maybe they should have a McDonald's, but one or two streets away." Locals seemed more divided. Humberto Aguilaf, who works at a fabric store next door to the proposed site, said he welcomes a restaurant with quick service and an alternative to the local fare. Saul Cano owner of two restaurants in the square, said several eateries originally were owned by Spaniards and don't even serve Oaxacan food.

Besides, he sees the arrival of a transnational company as an opportunity to negotiate for improving the entire square and deal with rampant problems like rats and trash. A painful decision The controversy surprised Diaz Huergo's nephew, Manuel Garcia, who owns a gallery upstairs from the site. Garcia says he feels caught in the middle because he has good relations with local artists and agrees with many of their opinions. But he says protesters have failed to see how painful the decision was to close the family business, a once-tony Oaxaca clothier that lasted more than 80 years but shut its doors a month and a half ago. Garcia said he is also hurt that protesters never approached Diaz Huergo for a dialogue before now and railed at Toledo's ability to get outside support.

"They don't think that there are 50,000 problems in the historic center that nobody has bothered to solve," Garcia said. "Now, the McDonald's won't happen, the store will stay closed, and the historic center will stay depressed." Latin American countries, global warming and mountains of trash. "Our discontent is not directed against the person who owns the franchise or the property, but against the company itself," the letter says. "Transnational fast food companies devalue the image and prestige of our heritage." Efforts to contact McDonald's Sistemas de Mexico, the company headquarters in Mexico City, were unsuccessful. Ads and editorials This is not the first time McDonald's has moved into a historic Mexican city.

Its restaurants sit in the zocalos of colonial jewels like Puebla, southeast of Mexico City, and Patzcuaro, Michoacan. But the Oaxaca dispute has been the subject of ads and editorials in local newspapers and the topic of debate at restaurant tables and park benches. Fabricio Agustin Delgado, 18, who works at another McDonald's in town, accused the activists of taking money from local businesses afraid of competition. Pro-Oax officers laughed at the suggestion. Amid the clamor, Mayor Ga- OiixncaFmm Page Al signatures for an open letter to McDonald's objecting to the new restaurant, which has the go-ahead from the national agency that manages historic structures but still needs City Council approval.

McDonald's plans to rent the location from owner Josefina Diaz Huergo, who city officials say has acted as a go-between for the com-l pany in dealings with City Hall. "The historic center has meaning for Oaxacans as a meeting place," Toledo said. "We consider that it is a sacred place, if you can call it that. It deserves a certain respect, a kind of care." Undermining identity The letter criticizes McDo- nald's for everything from its image to its business practices to its food. The company's presence, the group says, un- dermines Oaxaca's identity and will turn it into an imitation American Anytown.

The group says McDonald's also hurts the local economy because it buys supplies elsewhere. It blames I the company for anti-labor practices, increased incidence of diabetes and other health conditions, deforestation in JL 1 Tessie BoraenTne Arizona Republic Leticia Zarate (left) collects signatures near a display of an open letter to McDonald's, protesting plans for an eatery. bino Cue Monteagudo, elected seven months ago as the candidate of a political coalition, tried to keep an impartial distance. Spokesman Juan Arturo Lopez Ramos said Monteagudo met with Pro-Oax and agreed to a forum with academics, activists, business backers and the public to discuss orderly rules for using the historic center. There is no date or guest list yet, but Pro-Oax supports the idea.

Meantime, the company's permit application will go forward, with a final decision in a few weeks. Lopez Ramos indicated the company may have a tough case because of legal language governing the historic center. "The rules clearly show that the cultural patrimony of Oaxacans is constituted by their traditions, by their music, by their folklore and by their cuisine, as it is intimately linked to Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchinge Best Savings of the Year on All New Jaguars in Stock! 2002 Jaguar X'Type LEASE FOR per month for 48 months 2.5 liter V6 engine 5 Speed Manual Transmission Connolly leather interior with bird's eye maple trim Free Scheduled Maintenance 4 Miles THE JAGUAR LONDON CALLING Scottsdale Jaguar 68th St- McDowell Rd. 4809909000 wvvw.uagwest.com JAGUAR SALES EVENT THE ART of PERFORMANCE For a limited time only. 'Stock 43000162.

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