The following is a press release from the Laura Recovery Center for missing children:

Justice For Laura - Candlelight Vigil
Tuesday, April 3 - Stevenson Park, Friendswood

FRIENDSWOOD, TX - The Laura Recovery Center is announcing a public candlelight vigil, seeking Justice for Laura, at 7:00 PM. on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at Stevenson Park in Friendswood, Texas. The vigil marks the tenth anniversary of 12-year old Laura Kate Smither's abduction and murder.

During the vigil, Laura's parents Bob and Gay Smither, joined by Friendswood Police Chief Bob Weiners and Laura's priest Rev. Robert Wareing, will call for justice and the resolution of Laura's ten year-old case.

The evening will be include prayers, the distribution of remembrance bracelets, and the lighting of candles which have come to symbolize "lighting the way home" for missing children throughout the nation.

Laura Smither disappeared on April 3, 1997 when she went for a run. When she didn't return, the police were called and a massive community search began which eventually included over six thousand volunteers and a battalion of U. S. Marines. After 17 days Laura's remains were found on April 20, 1997, 14 miles from her home in a Pasadena, Texas retention pond.

Laura's disappearance remains an open and active ongoing investigation, however charges have never been filed by the authorities. The Smither Family is calling for JUSTICE FOR LAURA and asking for the person responsible for this crime to do the right thing and come forward. For information on Justice for Laura - Candlelight Vigil call the Laura Recovery Center at 281-482-LRCF (5723) or visit www.LRCF.org.

A $10,000 reward is offered by the Carole Sunde Foundation and Crimestoppers for information about this case. Conditions apply.

The Laura Recovery Center - for missing children - is a non-profit 501 (c)3 organization that was founded in Laura Smither's memory. The Center focuses on the Education, Search, and Prevention in the area of missing children and has offered free abduction prevention programs to over 135,000 children throughout the greater Houston area, worked with over 1,100 families with missing loved ones, and organized more than 75 community searches for abducted children.

I met Bob Smither last year when I interviewed him as a candidate for CD22. Turns out that his sister Pam Covington is good friends with my mother-in-law, which is something that I hadn't realized till that day. They do good work at the Laura Recovery Center, and as the tenth anniversary of Laura's abduction approaches, I hope you'll take a moment to take a look at what they do and see if there's a way that you might be willing and able to help them. Thanks very much.