Press

ALBANY, NY – Families and friends of abducted children and other missing persons from across the country will gather at the New York State Museum on Sunday, April 1, to talk about their own experiences and to teach other families how to prevent such tragedies.

The event is part of the 6th annual Missing Persons Day ceremony. Missing Persons Day is observed annually on April 6th, Suzanne Lyall’s birthday. The former SUNY Albany student has been missing since March 2, 1998.

Abby Potash will be the keynote speaker at 2 p.m. in the Huxley Theater. The subject of Potash’s address will be non-custodial parental abductions, which happen 500 times a day in the United States and which Potash endured when her 10-year-old son, Sam, was snatched by Potash’s estranged husband. Now reunited with his mother and nearly 20 years old, Sam is a student at Temple University where he is studying social work in order to help other young people who have been similarly victimized. Prior to the keynote speech, a ceremony will be held in the Museum’s Huxley Theater, beginning at 1 p.m. with Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco as master of ceremonies. New York State Trooper Dan Hart will play the bagpipes and the National Anthem will be sung by Brittany Kissinger of Ballston Spa, who formerly starred as “Annie’’ on Broadway.

Also among the day’s speakers will be Doug and Mary Lyall, the parents of Suzanne Lyall. The Lyalls are scheduled to speak at 1:20 about the Center for Hope, the Ballston Spa-based non-profit organization they founded. This will be followed by remarks from New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and District Attorneys David Soares of Albany County and Patricia DeAngelis of Rensselaer County.

Following the speeches and presentations, members of families with missing loved ones will place wreaths of yellow roses and hold a candlelight vigil at the Missing Persons Remembrance
monument next door to the Museum. The monument was constructed in 2006. It is located on the southeast corner of Madison and Swan Streets and features an eternal flame to “light the way home” for the missing.

The New York State Police, the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and other organizations will be present during the event to hand out literature and answer parents’ questions. Jim Viola, a filmmaker and husband of Patricia Viola, who has been missing from Bogota, New Jersey since 2001, will present several short videos about a variety of missing person’s cases.

The Museum is among several sites in the Capitol Region that hosts a computer kiosk that allows visitors to access information year-round about missing persons.

During the morning of April 1st nearly 200 survivors and friends of missing persons and interested parties are expected to attend a private morning session exclusively for the families and missing person organizations, sponsored by the Center for Hope.

“ This annual event provides families with missing loved ones with support and guidance,” said Doug Lyall. “Collectively, we offer one another hope.”

The New York State Museum, established in 1836, is a program of the New York State Department of Education. Located at the Empire State Plaza on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free and the Museum is fully accessible. Further information about Museum programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.