Please Help the Dunsavage Family Help Joe's Kids

[Jeff Dunsavage]

For those of you who don't know my family's story, the story that led to the creation of the Missing Americans Project, I will briefly recount it:

 

My brother Joe disappeared on May 10, 2009 after taking a small recreational catamaran into the shallows off the West End of the island of Roatan in Honduras. Thanks to the efforts of friends and family across the country calling their congressmen to ask them to press for action, we succeeded in getting an exhaustive 3-day air/sea search by the U.S. military that covered the waters around Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and even the southern tip of Mexico. Neither Joe nor the catamaran was ever found.

 

For the past year and a half, my family has been trying to get a consular finding of presumptive death from the State Department so the courts will provide us with a death certificate so we can collect Joe's life insurance for his minor children. State insists that the only way we can get such a finding is through the Honduran courts. State insists that its hands are tied by federal regulations, but the regulatory language they cite leaves plenty of latitude for providing a finding. 

 

Of our 2 Senators (Lautenberg and Menendez), only Menendez's office has been of any help - but I have not yet received a commitment from him to intercede with the State Department on my family's behalf. It is toward achieving this end that I am asking all members of the project to participate in a targeted campaign to begin tomorrow (Monday, Feb. 14).My immediate goal is to get a face-to-face meeting with both Senators so I can personally explain my position, request their support, and learn whether they are with us or not. The campaign is as follows (all phone/fax numbers appear at the bottom):

 

When carrying this out, I ask that you:

1. Always be polite and respectful. No obscenities, no threats.

2. Please follow instructions for both days.

3. Please share widely with your network and urge your friends and family to do the same.

 

Monday (after 10:00 a.m., EST): 1. Call the senators' offices. Ask to speak with them. Either you will be asked to leave a message or allowed to talk with an aide. Either way, please say:

“I’m calling to ask the senator to meet with the family of Joe Dunsavage, an Edison, NJ resident who disappeared in Honduras in May 2009. I support the Dunsavages in their request that the senator intervene with the State Department on their behalf to obtain a consular finding of presumptive death so Joe’s minor children can obtain the life insurance benefits they deserve. I am outraged that the State Department would require this family that has suffered and lost so much already to go through the expense and risk of hiring Honduran lawyers to plead for a finding from the Honduran courts, when all evidence strongly supports the likelihood that Joe died on or around May 10, 2009, somewhere in the Caribbean.”

If you are able, please call more than once throughout the day.

Tuesday (After 10 a.m.):

1. Repeat your calls to the senators’ offices.

2. Print out the call language and fax it to them as well.

Wednesday:Give them a break. If we get action, I will post something on my Facebook page and at the Missing Americans Project site. If we don’t, we’ll start the process again Monday, with enhancements.

Really important to remember that we need as many people as possible doing this. It doesn't matter if you're not in or from NJ or even the U.S. Please share it widely and urge your friends and family to do the same.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

 

Sen. Robert Menendez

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

 

Thank you, and best regards,

Jeff Dunsavage

[Jeff Dunsavage]

I'll be sending out instructions for Phase 2, which will widen the effort to include NJ's governor, Hilary Clinton, and the chairs of the rekevant House and Senate committees. What wojld be great right now would be if you could invite as many people as possible into the community and explain the campaign to them so they'll be ready to engage in an instant. We experiences minor progress with phase 1 - phase 2 has to knock a lot more socks off.

What can we do to help you? What's your story? What do you need?

[Mari Fernandez]

Jeff,

 

I'm sorry to hear of Joe's story. Is it too late to call Senator Menendez or Lautenberg office?

[Cynthia Scheepstra]

glad to help. I hope this gets the job done!