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Girard woman hopes her son will be found
Photo
Patricia “Pat” Marks of Girard holds a photograph and missing-person flier of her son, Daniel Joseph Marks, who disappeared Nov. 10, 2005, on Kauai, Hawaii.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
GIRARD
Every day, Patricia “Pat” Marks ponders what happened to her son, Daniel Joseph Marks. She wonders daily if and when she will learn his fate.
This month marks five years since he disappeared.
Daniel Marks went missing Nov. 10, 2005, on Kauai, Hawaii. The 24-year-old traveled to the small island to hike and camp, activities he often did. Something went terribly wrong. Pat Marks and her family are still trying to find out what.
“My mother’s heart feels he could be alive,” Pat Marks said. “When I close my eyes, I see his face.”
Pat Marks said she learned a startling fact. When a child goes missing, she said, an extensive search is mandated. For an adult, it’s different. Det. Claire Veno of the Lihue Police Department on Kauai, who still is on the case, handles all the missing-persons cases on the island. All she is required to do is take the report, distribute posters and a press release on the missing person. “Basically, it’s up to the family to search,” Pat Marks said.
Daniel, a 1999 graduate of Girard High School, majored in music at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. Daniel, who was living in Portland, Ore., had planned to enter graduate school at Portland State University in January 2006.
Pat Marks said Daniel and her two older adult children, Ronald Marks of Colorado and Susan Marks Videa of Washington, all shared a love of travel and the quality of independence.
Pat Marks said Daniel worked as a musician and made CDs through PsyBooty in California. In the weeks before his disappearance, he spent time with PsyBooty producers, who were friends, and other friends in California, where he camped at Yosemite National Park.
At the time of Daniel’s disappearance, Pat Marks was teaching at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. She had arranged with Daniel to pick him up Nov. 19 at the Twin City Airport; they and other family members would spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together before he began grad school.
Pat Marks and her sister, Mary Falk, went to the airport, but Daniel was a no-show. “I knew there was something wrong,” Pat Marks said. They found out Daniel never boarded the plane.
Daniel’s sister, Susan, was able to access her brother’s e-mail account and found he had gone to Kauai on the invitation of “Miko from Maui.”
“I didn’t know about that trip,” Pat Marks said. “It was odd he didn’t tell me about it.” The family has e-mailed “Miko,” but he has not responded.
Pat Marks said her children had common friends, so Ronald and Susan Marks contacted them. They talked to Portland police, who did a welfare check at Daniel’s apartment and found nothing amiss. Rangers at Yosemite confirmed Daniel had camped and left.
Pat Marks said they learned Daniel stayed at a hostel on Kauai his first night there, Nov. 9; he was last seen at 4 p.m. Nov. 10 and then nothing.
When Pat Marks told Detective Veno that she was coming to the island, the detective suggested Daniel’s siblings come instead.
“The detective said they would be better able to help search,” she said. “I was quite shocked that the family was expected to search.”
At various times, Daniel’s siblings; his father, Ronald Marks of Hubbard; Pat Marks’ brother, Daniel Bernard of Mexico; and Pat Marks and her sister went to Kauai. Nothing of Daniel has been found — no remains, backpack, clothing or tent.
Pat Marks said her son was last seen at Waimea Canyon on the Pihea Trail. There was no evidence that anyone fell off the trail because the detective said a “fall line” would be evident.
The Marks family has learned that three other young men, about the same age and description as Daniel, also are missing.
Pat Marks said her son had two previous concussions and experienced memory loss. She speculates something happened, and he lost his memory. She doesn’t really know.
“I had a dream and saw him walking the beach in California,” she said.
missing man
Daniel J. Marks
Daniel J. Marks of Portland, Ore., formerly of Girard, went missing Nov. 10, 2005, on Kauai, Hawaii. His story was featured on TV’s “America’s Most Wanted” in June.
Description: Caucasian male; 5 feet 8 inches tall; 130 pounds; brown eyes and hair. Birthday is March 13, 1981.
Identifying marks: Tattoos of Asian symbols on temples and large, green maple-leaf tattoos on each shoulder.
Contact: Kauai Police Department, 808-241-1711; National Center for Missing Adults, www.theyaremissed.org.
Donations: Daniel Marks Fund, Huntington Bank, 29 E. Liberty St., Girard, OH 44420.
Local ties: Daniel’s mother, Pat Marks, who had lived in Duluth, Minn., returned to Girard in September 2006 to be a caregiver for her parents, Anthony Bernard, who died in August, and Jane Bernard. She retired from a career in social work. “I pray all the time,” the member of St. Rose Church said. “Faith has helped and my wonderful family.” Daniel’s father is Ronald Marks of Hubbard.
Observance: Pat Marks sponsors a Mass and brunch in the spring at St. Rose for families of missing and deceased children.