As an investigator for the State Police, Detective Sgt. Stanley Molnar said he feels rewarded every time he solves a case, but his efforts were recognized on a larger scale last week when he was one of five individuals to receive a national missing persons award.
By:Vanessa S. Holt
Detective Sgt. Molnar, a Chesterfield resident, has been on the State Police force for 22 years and has worked in the Missing Persons Unit since 1993, partnered with Detective Sgt. Robert Dziobak.
Sgt. Molnar received the 2001 National Missing and Exploited Children’s Award for his work locating a 9-month-old infant allegedly kidnapped by her baby-sitter last year.
The award was presented on May 23 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, with the Fraternal Order of Police and the U.S. Department of Justice, at a ceremony held on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
The case for which Sgt. Molnar was recognized began last May when Linda Harris of Easton, Md., drove to her baby-sitter’s house to pick up her 9-month-old daughter and found the house empty.
Baby-sitter Rondelle Wilson apparently had left with all of her belongings and the infant, said Sgt. Molnar.
Sgt. Molnar became involved when he received a call from an investigator from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va., stating that an unidentified New Jersey phone number had been found in the Wilson residence.
After Sgt. Molnar checked the number and found that it belonged to a Bordentown Township truck stop, he went immediately to the site but found no sign of the baby-sitter or the infant.
The next lead came the following day when the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland told Sgt. Molnar it had an address for a home in Jersey City where Ms. Wilson might be staying.
Sgt. Molnar went to the Jersey City house, where a resident said Ms. Wilson had just left with a baby she claimed to be her own, according to police.
Acting on a hunch that the baby-sitter might return to the Bordentown location, Sgt. Molnar headed south again and came across a vehicle with Maryland plates by the side of the road on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Although a tow truck was on the scene assisting the vehicle, the driver tried to pull away and get back on the road, according to reports.
Sgt. Molnar pursued the vehicle on foot and identified himself as a State Police officer as he drew his service weapon and ordered the driver to leave the vehicle.
Ms. Wilson was identified as the driver, and the baby was found safely asleep in the back seat.
The child was reunited with her mother shortly thereafter and the baby-sitter was arrested and charged with kidnapping, Sgt. Molnar said.
The feeling of reuniting a parent with a missing child is incomparable, he said.
"There’s nothing more important than locating missing kids," he said. "We’ve been with that idea since we came in the unit; that’s why we pursue it the way we do."
Every day more than 2,000 children are reported missing across the country, Sgt. Molnar said.
More than half are runaways, but a growing number are parental abductions and a smaller number are abductions by strangers.
Sgt. Molnar recovers approximately two to four missing children every month, but the number varies, he said. Last year’s infant abduction case was atypical.
"We kind of run the gamut from parental abductions to runaways," he said. "This was an unusual one."
When he joined the State Police in 1979, Sgt. Molnar said, he didn’t realize that his strength would lie in missing persons cases.
"It’s so rewarding when you recover a missing child," he said. "There’s no other thing that could compare."
Locating a missing child is more difficult than finding an adult because children don’t leave a "paper trail" the way adults do.
"To find a missing adult there are a lot of little things you look into," he said. "You check their background, places where they grew up. A missing child is more difficult because they don’t have credit cards."
A film crew from the television program "America’s Most Wanted" was present at the award ceremony last week and may air a segment featuring the case, said Sgt. Molnar, and a Senate resolution to honor his work is being sponsored by state Sen. Diane Allen (R-7th).
The president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Ernie Allen, congratulated the detective in writing, stating that it was a "well-deserved honor; thank you for your exceptional work on behalf of our nation’s children."
"Without the quick and decisive action of Detective Sgt. Molnar, this story could easily have become a genuine tragedy," said Director of Criminal Justice Kathryn Flicker.
Attorney General John J. Farmer Jr. also extended his congratulations to the officer, stating that his "exemplary behavior" reflects positively on every other law enforcement officer.
