Special unit unravels missing person mysteries 12/21/2009 7:29 PM By ANDY PARAS The (Charleston) Post and Courier
CHARLESTON -- Someone is reported missing about once a day in Charleston: A teenager didn't arrive at school. A spouse didn't return home. A grandfather disappeared from his house.
Investigators with the Charleston Police Department's Special Victims Unit comb through these cases to determine how much danger the missing person is in, if any. Most of the time these cases resolve themselves peacefully within 24 hours or so - the teen played hooky with a boyfriend, the spouse was running late, Grandpa was next door - but not all of them do.
It's rarely clear from the outset, said Investigator Mike Lyczany, who runs the six-detective unit.
"The question always in the back of your mind is 'Is there more to it?'" Lyczany said. "Is it just what's on the surface or are we missing something?"
Lyczany, whose unit also investigates domestic violence, sexual assaults and child abuse, said missing-person cases are a stressful, time-consuming battle against the clock.
Investigators interview friends and family and analyze medical records, bank and credit card records and often battle with phone companies just for access to cell phone records. They scan GPS readings and look at security camera footage.
"There's a tremendous amount of work that tends to go unrecognized," Lyczany said.
The unit has had two high-profile cases this year. Both Kathryn Keener and Katherine Waring were reported missing from Charleston.
Keener, 49, didn't show up to her mom's birthday party Aug. 1. Her body was discovered five days later in a stagnant pond in the county. Waring, 28, vanished on June 12. Private investigators hired by her family found her body Oct. 10 in a secluded area on Wadmalaw Island.
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office has made arrests in both cases. Lyczany and Investigator Kelly Stone declined to say much about either case because they both are pending trial. They also cited a gag order in the Waring case.
Both cases used all of their resources, including security video that showed Waring inside a CVS the night of her disappearance, they said.
"You name it, we did it," Stone said.
Stone said she tracks most missing adults through their cell phones and bank records.
Stone said accessing cell phone records from carriers can take precious days, depending on the company.
"It is difficult to get them, and it is extremely frustrating," Stone said. "I've been frustrated several times."
Once they have the records, they must then analyze them. The department gets help from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's Fusion Center, which helps departments statewide analyze records.
Tracking juveniles can be a different matter because they often don't leave much of a paper trail.
"Kids don't have credit cards," Stone said. "Sometimes they don't have phones."
Stone said she will talk to their friends and families. Sometimes the friends will tell police more than they will tell the family.
The city has been fortunate because it has not had any straight-up child abduction cases in recent memory, such as the recent abduction of a 1-month-old boy from North Charleston. Lyczany said most of their cases involved parents who didn't have custody, and ultimately came to a peaceful resolution.
The bottom line, Lyczany said, is they never know what they have until a missing-person case is over.
"Most of them do end on a happy note," he said. "We never know until the end."
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