Healdsburg-based nonprofit formed to find missing children

If a Healdsburg-area group is successful in raising money, Sonoma County low-income families will have help at no cost if they have a missing or abducted child.

"We want to help low-income families locate and rescue missing children," said Marcy Durost of Santa Rosa, board president of the newly formed Eye Investigate Missing Children.

Eye Investigate Missing Children, established April 28  as a 501c nonprofit,  will raise money so that low-income parents can afford to get help from a professional private investigator if their child is abducted.

"We want to provide private investigation services at no cost to low-income families," said of Healdsburg, a licensed private investigator and the group's executive director. "People don't realize that this happens in our own community."

Lessan, who worked with classes last year in a video project called , said the statistics on missing children are grim. 

As many as two-thirds are found dead or "they end up with pedophiles or sex traffickers," she said. "We want to recover them before that happens."

Private investigation services can be quite costly -- up to an average of $6,000 within the U.S., or as much as $30,000 to $100,000 if the child is taken out of the country, Lessan said.

Board member Hector Solis, who runs CKS Martial Arts in Healdsburg, said he will offer the first fundraising event, an open house on Friday, June 10, from 1 to 7:30 p.m. at his studio on 103-B Powell Ave.

Classes are: 1 to 2 p.m., defensive tactics Level I for security and law enforcement personnel; 3 to 4 p.m., mixed martial arts, all ages; 5 to 6 p.m., women's self-defense; 6 to  7 p.m., aerobics; 7 to 7:30 p.m. kids karate demo.

Admission is free; donations to Eye Investigate Missing Children are appreciated.

Also, the group will run a raffle, with the prize being helicopter rides at Dragonfly Aviation at Sonoma County Airport.

Information and raffle tickets will be available at a booth the organization plans to set up on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at the last of the at Healdsburg Plaza, when the group will be sponsoring the appearance of bluesman Charlie Musselwhite and his band.

For more information, contact Lessan at 858-568-4972 or Durost at 707-545-6304 or check the Facebook page.