Kansas Is Missing Too Many of Its Own and Every Broadcaster Has a Microphone That Could Help Bring Them Home

(Photo courtesy of KAKE-TV)

From the Publisher | Steven D. Mills | On The Dial | November 2, 2026

Somewhere in Kansas tonight, a parent may be sleeping beside a telephone, hoping it will ring with news that their child has been found. Somewhere else, a family may be studying the same photograph they’ve looked at a thousand times, wondering whether someone in another town has seen the person they love. From Wichita and Topeka to Kansas City, Salina, Parsons, and communities across our state, missing-person reports represent families living with questions no one should have to answer alone. And while law enforcement continues its work, I believe the broadcasting industry has an obligation to use one of the most powerful tools it possesses: the ability to reach people who might know something.

We cannot promise to find every missing Kansan. But we can stop allowing their stories to disappear from public attention.

This is not about ratings, publicity, or who gets credit for breaking a story. It’s about children, teenagers, and adults whose families deserve every reasonable opportunity to bring them home.

And it’s about an industry that has spent generations telling communities we’re there when they need us.

Well, Kansas needs us.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation maintains a statewide missing-persons resource intended to help families, law enforcement, and the public locate missing individuals. The Kansas Department for Children and Families also maintains a regularly updated Youth Recovery Report tracking children in state custody who have left their placements and those who have been recovered. Missing Persons+1

These are important resources, but they cannot do the job alone.

Behind every entry is a human being.

A student whose classroom seat may be empty.

A teenager whose friends may know something they haven’t told authorities.

A young adult who may be far from the place they were last seen.

A parent, sibling, or grandparent who deserves answers.

And we need to be especially careful about the language we use.

The word runaway sometimes causes people to assume a missing child has simply chosen to leave and will eventually return.

That assumption can be dangerous.

A child who leaves home or a placement may be escaping a difficult situation, experiencing emotional distress, or facing circumstances the public knows nothing about. Some missing young people are vulnerable to exploitation, violence, and other serious risks. Kansas Reflector+1

A child reported as a runaway is still a missing child. And a missing child still deserves to be found.

Recent public missing-child listings associated with Kansas include the following cases. These names and dates come from a publicly accessible alert listing, but I have not independently confirmed each person’s status with the investigating agency as of November 2. Before broadcasting an individual alert, stations should verify that the person is still missing.

These are examples from recent public listings, not a complete or independently verified roster of everyone currently missing in Kansas. MostFreebies

And the concern doesn’t end with recent disappearances.

Some Kansas families have been waiting years, even decades, for answers.

Every case deserves attention appropriate to its circumstances, whether someone disappeared yesterday or years ago.

I’m issuing a challenge to every radio station, television station, newspaper, digital publisher, podcast, and social media creator serving Kansas.

Make missing-person awareness part of your ongoing public service commitment, not something you cover only when a disappearance becomes national news.

A station doesn’t need a massive budget to make a difference. It needs a little time, consistent effort, and a willingness to work with law enforcement.

Here’s what I would like to see broadcasters across Kansas begin doing:

• Establish a Missing Kansans feature. Dedicate a short, recurring segment to an active, verified case, including the person’s name, last known location, and the appropriate law enforcement contact.
• Use every platform. Put verified photographs and case information on station websites, Facebook, Instagram, and other digital channels.
• Coordinate with investigators. Verify cases before publishing, update them when new information is released, and remove outdated alerts when someone is located.
• Make room for overlooked cases. Don’t focus exclusively on the disappearances receiving the most attention. Rural communities, older cases, and missing young people deserve visibility, too.
• Protect the people we’re trying to help. Avoid speculation, accusations, and sensationalized descriptions. Send tips to law enforcement, not social media comment sections.

And when somebody is found safe, share that news, too, while respecting their privacy.

Because every successful recovery matters.

Imagine what could happen if stations in Wichita, Topeka, Kansas City, Garden City, Dodge City, Hays, Salina, Hutchinson, Manhattan, Lawrence, and every community in between worked together.

A person reported missing in one town might be recognized by a listener in another.

A photograph shared by a television station could reach someone who never heard the original police announcement.

A fifteen-second radio announcement might prompt someone to remember a detail they hadn’t considered important.

None of that guarantees a recovery.

But it creates opportunities for information to reach the right people.

And those opportunities are worth making.

We have microphones that reach across counties, transmitters that reach across communities, and digital platforms that reach around the world. Surely we can use some of that power to help families find their loved ones.

Broadcasters and the public should begin with official resources:

• Kansas Bureau of Investigation Missing Persons — statewide case information and reporting resources.
• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children — missing-child posters and case information.
• Kansas DCF Youth Recovery Report — regularly updated information on missing and recovered youth in state custody.
• KBI: 1-800-KS-CRIME (1-800-572-7463).
• NCMEC: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

There is no waiting period before reporting someone missing to law enforcement in Kansas. If you believe someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Kansas.gov+1

I’ve spent much of my life in broadcasting, and I’ve seen what happens when people in this industry decide that something matters enough to come together.

We can make phones ring.

We can get information into homes.

We can put a face and a name in front of people who otherwise might never know someone is missing.

But the greatest measure of our influence isn’t how many people hear us.

It’s what happens because they did.

So I’m asking my fellow broadcasters across Kansas to help make these stories impossible to ignore.

Not by frightening communities or exploiting grieving families, but by offering a steady, responsible reminder that somebody is still missing and somebody may know something.

A missing-person poster shouldn’t have to go viral before a missing person becomes important.

Let’s do our part.

Let’s help bring Kansas home.

Steven D. Mills
Publisher, On The Dial

As I ask broadcasters to help families searching for missing loved ones, I am also living through a search of my own.

I’m Steven Mills, a two-time cancer survivor, pastor, and longtime broadcaster now fighting end-stage kidney disease. I depend on daily dialysis while searching for a compatible living kidney donor. Because I am extremely highly sensitized, finding that donor is extraordinarily difficult.

I know firsthand what it means to hope that the right person will see one message.

I’m not asking you to choose between helping these families and helping me. I’m asking you to recognize what we can accomplish when we show up for one another.

Please help bring our missing Kansans home. And if you have room for one more story, please help me find the kidney that could save my life.

Visit FindMyOne.org to learn about my donor search, share my story, or support my medical expenses.

Millions have seen my story. I’m still looking for one.

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