Nine hundred green balloons formed a canopy over the South Campus Gateway Friday night.
The balloons floated up over the bar crowds gathered on balconies before disappearing over the complex’s rooftop.
These 900 balloons were not part of any celebration, but rather a memorial. They represented Ohio’s missing adults.
“In Ohio, there are over 900 missing adults that we don’t know where they are,” said Kevin Myles from Central Ohio Crime Stoppers. “In the country there are over 50,000 missing adults.”
Community members gathered in the Gateway courtyard to hear speakers and witness the release of the 900 balloons during the Rally for Hope.
“It’s very important to get the awareness out and to try to keep Brian and all the missing people in Ohio in the news,” said Eric Thorpe, a second-year medical student. “Bringing people together and bringing hope to people keeps them in the back of people’s minds. We need to always keep them in our memory and keep them in our prayers.”
Finding a missing adult is difficult because of the way every county in Ohio handles missing people, Myles said.
“We’ve got families from all over Ohio calling and saying ‘We have a problem. Our son, our daughter is missing,'” he said. “Each community treats missing adults differently. We need to get this handled so when adults are missing we can do something different than we’ve done before.”
Crowd members, wearing green ribbons, stood in a half-circle around the podium listening to speakers.
The rally offered a chance for the families of missing Ohio adults to communicate to the public.
“All this has made me realize that everybody’s in such a hurry these days,” said Randy Shaffer, Brian Shaffer’s father. “We worry too much about things. We forget what’s really important – family life.”
Willie Young, a representative from the Office of Student Affairs, spoke on behalf of OSU.
“We realize the situation of missing adults is a much larger situation than we were ever aware,” Young said. “This Rally of Hope brings attention to Brian’s disappearance as well as other missing adults. Brian is a member of the Ohio State University family. We will do whatever we can to assist the family and support the loved ones during this very difficult time.”
Compared with the size of OSU, the rally brought few observers. Numbers, however, did not determine the success of the Rally of Hope.
For the families of missing Ohio adults, making even one more person aware of the situation meant success.
“People just think they’re invincible,” said Rachel Leonard, a freshman in education. “I’m more alert when I go out now. I’m more aware of my surroundings and what’s going on around me.”
