Partnering With Families
You Shouldn't Have to Search Alone
For families, a missing child is never just a case number or a cold case.
It is a son, daughter, brother, sister, grandchild, niece, nephew, or someone whose absence has left questions that may have remained unanswered for decades.
The Jack & Jill Rosenthal Foundation for Missing & Unidentified Children (JJRF) works alongside families of missing children to help them understand their case, explore what options may still exist, and determine whether today's investigative tools can uncover information that was unavailable when their loved one disappeared.
Because no family should search alone.
We Cannot Promise an Answer. We Can Promise a Serious Look.
Case Review & Next Steps
Families often come to us with boxes of records, newspaper articles, photographs, police reports, correspondence, family stories, and decades of accumulated information.
JJRF can help organize and review those materials, reconstruct the history of the case, identify unanswered questions, and determine where additional research may be worthwhile.
Our goal is to help answer an important question:
What can still be done today?
Genealogy & DNA Assistance
DNA technology and genetic genealogy have created investigative possibilities that did not exist when many cold cases began.
JJRF can help families understand available DNA testing options, organize family trees, analyze genealogical relationships, identify appropriate relatives for testing, and evaluate whether genetic genealogy could potentially contribute to the case.
When investigative genetic genealogy requires law-enforcement involvement or authorization, we can help families understand that process and communicate with the appropriate agency.
Working With Law Enforcement
JJRF can help families organize information and, when appropriate, facilitate communication with the law-enforcement agency responsible for the investigation.
We recognize that the case belongs to the investigating agency and that certain information cannot be released to families or the public.
Our role is not to interfere with an investigation.
Our role is to help families and law enforcement move toward the same goal: answers.
Family Liaison Support
Navigating a cold case can be overwhelming, particularly when generations of family members have spent years searching for information.
JJRF can provide families with a consistent point of contact who can help explain research, organize information, identify questions to ask, and help families better understand the options available to them.
Sometimes families need investigative assistance.
Sometimes they need help knowing where to begin.
We can help with both.
Timeline Reconstruction
Details can become scattered across decades.
Our team can build a comprehensive timeline incorporating known events, locations, witnesses, family information, historical records, media coverage, and other available documentation.
Putting everything together chronologically can help identify gaps, conflicting information, overlooked connections, or areas that deserve another look..
Historical & Public Records Research
Our researchers can examine historical newspapers, census records, directories, vital records, court records, property information, obituaries, archives, genealogy databases, and other publicly available sources.
For cases that are decades old, these records can help reconstruct relationships, movements, addresses, family connections, and events that may have been difficult or impossible to investigate at the time.
What Happens When You Contact JJRF?
Every case begins with listening.
We want to understand who your loved one was, what happened, what has already been investigated, what information your family has gathered, and what questions remain unanswered.
From there, JJRF can evaluate the information available and determine what resources may be appropriate.
Not every case will require every service, and not every question can be answered.
But decades passing does not necessarily mean every avenue has been exhausted.
Public Awareness & Media Support
Some cases need renewed public attention.
When appropriate and coordinated with the investigating agency, JJRF can help families responsibly bring attention back to a missing child's case through social media, public awareness campaigns, media outreach, and The Fronczak Files.
Our goal is not simply to generate attention.
It is to reach the person who may remember a face, recognize a name, recall an event, or possess the one piece of information that has never reached investigators.