ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), in partnership with GSTV, is launching a powerful nationwide campaign to help find Kevin Verville Jr., who was abducted as an infant from Oceanside, California in 1980.
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From July 1 through July 31, a newly released age-progression image of Kevin—created by a forensic artist at NCMEC to show what he might look like today—will be broadcast coast to coast.
Recognizing the urgent need to reach a broad, national audience in Kevin’s case, GSTV—the national digital video network viewed at more than 29,000 fuel retailers across 49 states—is generously donating screen time across its network to highlight Kevin’s story throughout the month of July. This collaboration allows NCMEC to engage viewers across the country, dramatically increasing the chances that someone will recognize Kevin and come forward with information.
Kevin was abducted on July 1, 1980, when investigators say an unknown woman approached the Verville family at their apartment, an off-base military housing complex home near Camp Pendleton. The woman called herself, “Sheila,” and claimed to be from an organization helping young military families. She drove Kevin and his mother to her office and at some point, convinced Kevin’s mom to get out of the car. The unknown woman sped off with baby Kevin who was just 17 days old. Read more about Kevin’s story on NCMEC’s blog.
“Kevin’s family has endured 45 years of unimaginable pain, believing his case was forgotten. Now, with national attention, there’s real hope for answers,” said Angeline Hartmann, director of Communications at NCMEC. “We believe Kevin is still out there, likely living under another name, unaware he was kidnapped as a baby. He could be anywhere in the country, so it’s critical to reach as many people as possible.”
NCMEC and GSTV have worked together since 2019 to feature missing children on screens across the country. In addition to this nationwide initiative, every month GSTV gives NCMEC space on screens in 25 states to feature the cases of missing children.
“It’s beyond heartbreaking for a family to live with not knowing what has happened to their child,” said Violeta Ivezaj, senior vice president of Business Operations at GSTV. “We’ve seen the power of GSTV’s partnership with NCMEC to help reunite missing children with their families in individual states and markets, and we hope that the focused national attention for this case will also help to bring some resolution to Kevin’s family.”
A full list of participating fuel retailers can be found at gstv.com/missingkids.
Anyone with information about Kevin’s case is urged to call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
GSTV does not operate in New Jersey
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