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TOKENS
Hide and Seek
under inve stiga tion
.
The Hide and Seek Foundation,
of which the Video Operators Chil-
dren's Alert Line (VOCAL) is a part,
is being investigat ed by the
Oregon attorney general's office
in connection with alleged misuse
of funds.
Pending the outcome of the
investigatio n, Hide and Seek has
been dropped as an affiliate by
the Missing Children's Network, a
national syndicate that provides
such services as toll-free telephone
numbers and advertising to orga-
nizations working to find missing
children.
VOCAL was founded in Sep-
tember 1983 by the Skill Game
Operators of Oregon and was
merged with Hide and Seek. Hide
and Seek had been a Missing Chil-
dren's Network affiliate for two
years.
"Our organizatio n is in constant
touch with the attorneys general in
all states where we have affiliate
groups," said the network's Don
Prijatel. "We found out that there
was, in fact an investigatio n in
Oregon that involved Hide and
Seek, so to retain our credibility
and reputation, we dropped them
temporaril y. I must emphasize that
it was done temporarily , and in no
way am I saying that because we
dropped them there was any
wrongdoin g. In fact they may be
reinstated."
The investigatio n began in late
1985 when the attorney general's
office received inquiries about a
professiona l fund-raisin g group in
Oregon, KL V Fundraisers. Explain-
ing that Oregon regulates such
groups strictly, Assistant Attorney
General Ross Layboume said, "It
became apparent to us that KL V
was not disclosing the proper
PLAY METER. February 1986
information to the public, and an
investigatio n was begun. N. the
time, the only [non-profit] group
involved with KL V was Hide and
Seek, so our investigatio n spilled
over to them."
Layboume said needed records
of Hide and Seek's were missing,
and conflicting accounts of their
disappeara nce were given. "When
investigatio n into money leads to
several people, allegations and
counteralle gations are common,"
he said.
Anne Fisher, a former Hide and
Seek employee who resigned
within several weeks of joining the
organizatio n, has charged that
Hide and Seek's founders, Linda
and Ernie Rivers, misused funds.
Linda Rivers has in tum accused
Fisher of abscondin g with about
$1,500 in foundation funds.
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According to Layboume , Fisher
was the liaison between Hide and
Seek and KLV and handled
money KL V raised for the founda-
tion. Fisher denies handling the
money. Rivers maintains she did
not work with KL Von fund-raisin g.
Amid the allegations is Rivers'
assertion that Fisher "had a crimi-
nal record in Florida and used
several aliases." Fisher counters
that Rivers is "trying to make it look
like I was the guilty one," and said
the alleged aliases are "simply my
maiden name and other married
names. The record was an incident
in 1973 when I was busted for har-
boring a fugitive. But ... I was found
not guilty."
According to Linda Rivers, 31 7
missing children have been found
through Hide and Seek, and eight
children have been found as a
result of the VOCAL program. •
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