Determined to spur change in the wake of personal tragedy, David Robinson, a father still seeking answers about his missing son, is making a bold move by running for a seat in the U.S. Congress from South Carolina. Robinson, whose son Daniel Robinson went missing in the Arizona desert back in June 2021, has led 49 searches and through these efforts, as reported by ABC15, realized the depth of the challenges that families of missing persons face.
Robinson, an Army veteran, stated in an interview with 12 News, "I had to do something when I started seeing some of these challenges that families face when they look for their loved ones." His congressional campaign will hinge on improving the search process and support for missing persons and their families. Believing that the U.S. should prioritize domestic issues, including the cases of over 600,000 people who go missing every year, Robinson draws on his military background to make a point, "I fought in Afghanistan and I watched the U.S. go into Pakistan to find Osama Bin Laden," he told ABC15. "If they can find Osama Bin Laden who didn’t want to be found, they can find all the other missing loved ones out there across this country."
David Robinson's son, Daniel Robinson, was a geologist who mysteriously vanished while working near Buckeye, Arizona. His Jeep was later found in a ravine, adding to the perplexity of his disappearance. Robinson's campagin isn't just built on emotion; it proposes practical changes, such as easing access to a missing person’s technology for families and law enforcement, as per his statement to 12 News, “We need to be able to open some of that up. They need to act when a family is sure that their loved one is missing; we need immediate attention. We cannot wait to over 12 hours — or any hours — to act, because that’s time lost.”
Along with missing person cases, Robinson aims to address other local issues in South Carolina, like infrastructure, ensuring that his home district's immediate needs are not overshadowed by his personal mission. However, for Robinson, his fight to find his son transcends politics, "My job is — as a citizen, as a person, as a constituent, as a father who's fighting for my son — is to do something about it. I cannot stand still and sit here and do nothing," he emphasized in a statement to 12 News. He plans a return trip to Arizona this April to press law enforcement for a criminal investigation into his son’s case.
