NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A group that helped put the word out across the country about Gabby Petito is hoping to draw attention to more missing persons cases across the country.
Kenny Jarels, who founded the AWARE Foundation of Virginia, was vital in getting the word out about the missing 23-year-old Long Island native.
Now, he is hoping to spark interest nationwide in a slew of other cases, including that of 62-year-old Ella Mae Begay, 3-year-old Arden Pepion and 26-year-old Leo Wagner.
The three went missing at various points over the last year from Montana and Arizona, and none have been seen since.
Missing person flyers for Ella Mae Begay, Arden Pepion and Leo Wagner.AWARE Foundation
Jarels told WCBS 880 that Petito's case helped spark renewed interest in closing missing persons' cases, and he is hopeful answers can be uncovered.
"We've actually had some local law enforcement agencies do press conferences after Gabby's case and said, 'Look we're going to go back and start looking at some of these other cases,'" he said.
He noted that it is crucial that people nationwide are informed about missing persons cases, as many times the search spans into different states.
"Someone in another state, someone in another area, they [could] have information that could [end] the investigation and bring some closure to the family," he said.
Jarels is hopeful that more people will regularly check out the foundation's Facebook page and help bring awareness to the hundreds of people who go missing every year.
"We use Twitter… we even use TikTok. We pull out all the stops. Some generate a lot of hits and others don't and it really gets frustrating," he said.
Jarels said what is especially frustrating is that the majority of cases will never get the same attention that Petito's did, especially if the missing person is a minority.
"We want these people's voices heard – that's our job," Jarels said. "What we can do is do a better job of getting coverage like we did for Gabby that went worldwide."
