By Michaela Gordoni
On March 1, 7 and 22, Reelz’ ON PATROL: LIVE aired segments with three missing kids cases, and all three returned home days later, on March 30.
The missing kids were 16-year-old Juliette Kapon from NYC who disappeared on Nov. 19, and Colton and Cohen Desormeaux, ages 5 and 7, from Lake Charles, LA, who disappeared the day before Juliette.
Their parents reported their missing kid cases to law enforcement and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Juliette’s father, Jesse Kapon, told PEOPLE, “My Juliette is home safe and it’s all because of NCMEC and the television show, ON PATROL: LIVE. Through them, she heard my voice! I can never thank them enough for making this happen.”
The boy’s father, Chase Desormeaux, said, “I was holding on by a thread — mentally and emotionally — with all these months of not knowing if my boys were safe or if they were ok. It’s a heartache and worry that cannot be described. After the television show aired and NCMEC shared my story nationwide, everything changed with the investigation.”
ON PATROL: LIVE airs every Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET. It features “Missing” segments, using cases from NCMEC and the Black and Missing Foundation (BAMFI). The show asks viewers to call BAMFI and NCMEC numbers if they know anything about the missing subjects.
So far, the show has helped locate 40 missing people.
“This is the first time that two missing cases (three children) featured back to back on the same TV show have been found in the same 24 hour period,” said Angeline Hartmann, NCMEC’s Director of Communications.
After an episode airs, the show’s fans, “OP Nation,” get to work. “They watch the show and take pictures of the screen, share it on social media and then they start Googling other details they share on social media,” Hartmann said. “It just really goes farther than any other show that I’ve seen.”
The Desormeaux brothers went missing after their mom, Sharlene, didn’t exchange them with Chase after a custodial court hearing.
“For months, we thought Sharlene Desormeaux might be in Texas where she has connections,” said Nicolas Roselli, Senior Inspector with the U.S.M.S. Southeast Region-New Orleans office. “After the show, we received several promising leads.”
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“It was clear that ON PATROL: LIVE and nationwide support from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children helped keep the pressure on,” he explained. “This kind of exposure can create unease for fugitives and those assisting them. We were able to zero in on our investigation and ultimately, she reached out to us.”
Juliette eventually saw the episode about herself and decided to return home after running away.
“She came home,” her father told I Love the Upper West Side news mag earlier this month. “She’s been found…She heard what I said to her on the show, and she came home…She’s home, she’s safe. I am just making sure she feels safe and comfortable, and loved.”
Jesse doesn’t know why she left, but said he will get therapy — whether its for them both or just Juliette is unclear.
The father said he was tremendously grateful for the support he got from the show, organizations and people.
“I can’t forget it. And I won’t,” he said.
On Patrol: Live segments can be viewed on Twitter: @OfficialOPLive, Instagram: @officialoplive and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReelzOfficialOPLive/.
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