Word: mia
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...have speculated that as many as 10 Americans could have been left behind in 1973, though he added that he believed they died at the hands of their captors. That possibility, unsettling in its own right, is a far cry from the outlandish claims by some members of the MIA industry. Millions of dollars are raked in every year through mailings from organizations that plead for contributions by raising the specter of large numbers of Americans being held in secret prison camps, waiting for rescuers who are being held back only by a lack of funds. Not one of these...
Photographs that supposedly depict Americans in captivity have a special role in the MIA industry because they make the most direct appeal to both reason and the emotions. But many of the most widely circulated pictures have been retouched or misrepresented. Over the past few years, for example, several pictures purporting to show imprisoned Americans have emerged from Kampuchea. They turned out to be altered images of Soviet citizens clipped from old magazines...
Sometimes the actions of grieving relatives can inadvertently assist scam artists in Indochina. Over the years, a number of MIA families have arranged for printed flyers to be distributed across Southeast Asia seeking information about their missing loved ones. Those provide pictures and personal information that unscrupulous operators use in the manufacture of phony dog tags and doctored photographs...
Meanwhile, a number of MIA organizations in the U.S. keep the issue alive by spreading unsupported allegations about supposedly missing Americans. While they may not manufacture false leads themselves, some have been known to make outrageous claims. Among them...
...National League of Families, the largest group representing close relatives of MIAs, accused 14 of the self-styled MIA rescue groups, including Operation Rescue, Homecoming II and Skyhook II, of distributing "false or distorted information" or supporting "counterproductive" activities. "It's a mystery how these guys have survived," says League of Families official Louise Van Hoozer, the sister of an Air Force pilot shot down in Vietnam. "All the leads offered by these guys evaporated...