Wednesday, May 12, 2010

When a Child Goes Missing.....

The statistics are unbelievable. The horror stories just keep getting worse. The pathetic state of how many children are missing each and every day in the United States alone is overwhelming. It is said that a child disappears every forty (yes, that's right, 40) seconds in this country alone. That is over 2100 children that disappear every single day here in the United States. These statistics are from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (Otherwise known as OJJDP). It has also been estimated that up to another 500,000 may go missing each year without EVER being reported. 
How can that possibly be? Why would someone NOT report a missing child? 
Surely there are others in that child's life that would realize that that child is no longer actively being seen! A teacher, a neighbor, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a sibling even. There is just no logical answer for such a thing to occur. 
 The following information is taken from the Missing and Murdered children blog, at this link: http://missingandmurderedchildren.facesofthemissing.org/2010/02/how-you-can-help-when-a-child-goes-missing/ This guest post is contributed by Brooklyn White, who writes on the topic of Forensic Science Technician Programs. She can be reached at brookwhite26-AT-Gmail.com.
This details ways you can help when a child vanishes:


It’s one of the worst things that could happen to any parent; it’s sometimes a fate worse than death because while death brings closure, knowing that your child is missing and not knowing what happened to them torments more than you would think possible. Parents of missing children are in a quandary of the worst kind – they are in a sort of limbo that is hard to get out of. They don’t know if they must mourn the loss of their child or continue to hope that they will be found soon, and this dilemma tears them apart and does not let them heal and go on with their lives. If you know someone whose child is missing, you can help in various ways, some of which are detailed below:
  • Don’t intrude: There are times when people whose children are lost want to be left alone; they don’t want to repeat the details of the horror they have faced to every person who comes calling, whether out of curiosity or even if it is to help. So know when you’re intruding on their privacy and when they need to be left to themselves. Also, don’t take it the wrong way when they ask you to leave because they wish to be alone with their thoughts and misery.
  • Don’t judge: People have different ways to cope with grief, so just because your idea of coping does not coincide with theirs, don’t judge the parents of missing children. Be of help in any way you can, but don’t think that this gives you the right to decide if what they do is morally or ethically right or wrong. Be supportive without judging what they say or what they do.
  • Help out: There are various ways you can help parents of missing children – by looking after their other children, taking care of routine activities like cooking and cleaning, driving their kids to school and other activities like soccer or softball, and others. In short, your time and efforts spent on helping to provide them with a sense of normalcy will go a long way in alleviating their anxiety.
  • Understand: Parents of missing children are bound to behave irrationally, have extreme mood swings, and sink into a depression because they are worried about their child and because they are under a great deal of stress. So understand their psyche and don’t take it personally if you’re at the receiving end of their bad moods.
  • Cooperate with law enforcement: And finally, you must cooperate with law enforcement officials without hiding any information, even if it means people you know are going to be accused or come under suspicion. You must do all you can to help find the missing child at the earliest, because the more time goes by, the less the chances of finding him/her alive.

In recent past, we have been made aware of some of the most high profile missing children's cases in years. Caylee Anthony, Haleigh Cummings, Elizabeth Olten, Somer Thompson, just to name a very few. The list could go on for pages and pages. But remember, there are hundreds more cases out there just like these, and every single child deserves to be able to be brought home safely. 


This information is for parents, and was taken from the missing and exploited children's website. 


ACT IMMEDIATELY if you believe that your child is missing.
Download the Quick Reference Guide for Families in English or Spanish.
What to Do:
  • If your child is missing from home, search the house checking closets, piles of laundry, in and under beds, inside large appliances, and inside vehicles, including trunks—wherever a child may crawl or hide.
  • If you still cannot find your child, immediately call your local law enforcement agency.
  • If your child disappears in a store, notify the store manager or security office. Then immediately call your local law-enforcement agency. Many stores have a Code Adam plan of action— if a child is missing in the store, employees immediately mobilize to look for the missing child.
  • When you call law enforcement, provide your child's name, date of birth, height, weight, and any other unique identifiers such as eyeglasses and braces. Tell them when you noticed that your child was missing and what clothing he or she was wearing.
  • Request that your child's name and identifying information be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File.
  • After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call theNational Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) on our toll-free telephone number: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). Or you can use our Live Hotline to talk to NCMEC through our web site.

The following information is from When a Child goes missing blog as well. Please- read carefully, and make note of the organizations listed here:

Disclaimer: The listed Resources are for informational purposes only. No compensation is received from them nor is any endorsement implied.
The Amanda Brown Foundation was formed to educate others about the dangers of child abductions and to provide families with resources, information and comfort during a crisis.
A site by the Department of Justice that provides information on AMBER alerts, Public Service Announcements, a child safety guide, news, and a toolkit for raising awareness about missing children.
AMECO is an organization of member agencies in the United States and Canada who provide services to families with missing and exploited children.
Provides information on missing children, child safety tips, and memorials.
Dennis Bair, a former minor league baseball player has an organization, BairFind. They put on autograph sessions at minor league baseball games in which the players sign team photos for the fans in attendance. There is a picture of a missing child in the upper corner of the team photo, along with that child’s vital information. The idea is that fans – especially kids – actually keep the signed pictures of their favorite players and teams. This leads to prolonged exposure of the missing child’s image, and a greater chance of recovery!
A site dedicated to assisting in the recovery of missing children. A weekly newsletter with children’s pictures is published via email.
Beyond Missing provides law enforcement agencies with a secure, Internet based system to create and distribute missing child flyers to law enforcement, the media, and public and private recipients. There is no cost to agencies for this service and no proprietary hardware or software required.
Maintains a toll free telephone hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week to receive information and inquiries regarding missing children. It relays this information to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
The Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Fund has been established to provide resources to families without economic means to offer rewards for information to help law enforcement officials locate missing loved ones and to bring violent criminals to justice.
The Center to Prevent Lost Children™ (CLCP) is the leading authority in the collection and dissemination of critical information that prevents kids from getting lost – and that helps find them quickly when it happens. CLCP was founded by Family Safety Expert, Alyssa Dver in 2007. After 4 years of research and working with Boston area communities, Dver realized the tremendous need to make the general public aware and proactive about lost child prevention.
The Charley Project is a website profiling over 4,000 “cold case” missing persons cases mainly from the United states. The website does not actively investigate cases; it is merely a publicity vehicle for cases which are often neglected by the press and forgotten all too soon.
Child abduction prevention tips.
A multilingual site of resources for parents dealing with child abduction.
Online missing children agency.
National not for profit charity that locates missing children through active investigation, prevents child abduction through education, and resolves incidents of parental abduction through mediation.
Fort Lauderdale based nonprofit organization for locating missing children, the disabled and elderly during the first hours of disappearance. The A Child Is Missing alert program is called on by law enforcement agencies throughout the nation seeking assistance in locating missing children.
Seeks to address the problem of missing and exploited children. Missing children cases, safety tips for children and their parents, and hotline.
The Child Safety Team, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. They are committed to assisting parents in protecting their children and they work very hard to make all of their resources available at a very low cost. Their goal is to make this information available to all parents.
A free, full service site to assist the families of missing children.
Child Search is a Ministry to families of missing and exploited children. Under certain circumstances the Center also helps families of missing adults.
This site includes cases of missing children, safety and abduction prevention information, recovered children stories, and child I.D. event information.
How to find, search for, and return kidnapped, runaway and missing children. Founded in 1979. Chartered by the State of Ohio.
Provides web site owners with a JavaScript news feed ticker that displays active Amber Alerts on their web pages. The ticker contains all pertinent information about the victim, the law enforcement agency issuing the alert and contact information for reporting sightings. Any available information about the perpetrator is also displayed.
Newsletter, events, photos of missing children, and other information for parents of missing children.
Community United Effort (CUE) is a non-profit organization that provides service to families who suffer a missing loved one, law enforcement agencies and Search & Rescue of the lost, young and old.
The cyber tipline handles leads from individuals reporting the sexual exploitation of children .
It is an abduction prevention program that empowers children and parents by providing them with ways to recognize, avoid or escape potentially dangerous situations. Designed to be a catalyst for home-based instruction, parents are encouraged to attend the hour-long presentation with their children so they can reinforce the knowledge that leads to smart choices.
The Doe Network is a volunteer organization devoted to assisting Law Enforcement in solving cold cases 9 years and older concerning Unexplained Disappearances and Unidentified Victims from North America, Australia and Europe. It is our mission to give the nameless back their names and return the missing to their families.
The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), in collaboration with the Find Madeleine Campaign and with the generous support of YouTube, has created this channel to help reunite missing children with their families.
Ekamtech built these sites as a public service, to contribute to missing adults and children being repatriated with their families and to display the powerful features of mapping technologies.
Missing Adults Map and Missing Kids Map uses the Google Maps API together with information from the National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to display a current map of the origins of missing adults and children in the United States and Canada.
The Families of Missing Loved Ones serves as a model to the community and a resource for law enforcement-providing awareness in the community; support for other families who need assistance with the search for their missing loved one; and education to the public about the issues related to missing persons.
Family Watchdog is a free service that allows you to locate the sex offenders in your area. A map will be shown with additional information available about the offender.
Finder’s Hope, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing Hope to those with a Missing loved one through Direct Support and Services, Advocacy, and Education and Awareness.

As Medical Examiners, we all have cases in our offices in which the decedent remains unidentified. Our belief is that even though a cause and manner of death have been established, these cases are “perpetually pending.” This website was created to provide a central clearinghouse to family, friends or police searching for a missing person.
Information for parents of missing children.
View pictures of missing children and teenagers in the Fraser Valley, BC, Canada.
Gabriel’s Gifts helping families find lost children.

The Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation has been established to help children in crisis. Our children are our last hope in this world.There is an evil that preys on the innocence of these precious souls and the Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation is a result of one man’s struggle with this evil which has claimed his daughter’s life. We cannot get rid of this evil…but we can contain it, so that our children can be free.

Compassionate support forum for the parents of missing or abducted children.
A resource for community safety for children. Information, support letters, pamphlets, links.
Provides free child ID kits, child safety information, missing children statistics and legislation, as well as child abduction prevention articles.
A nonprofit foundation that works to assist communities when faced with an abducted child and prevent child abductions.
Support for parents of missing children and links to national resource pages.
The MEC @ BellaOnline.com is a resource for children, parents, and the community to help teach children how to stay safe and find resources to help locate children.
Preventative tips, action to take if your child is abducted, statistics and links.
Listings of and links to articles, agencies, organizations and websites for information and resources concerning missing and runaway children.
This site has to do with one aspect of crime and that is against South Africa’s youth and especially those that easily fall prey to unscrupulous and evil people. This website is the first project undertaken by Real South Africa.co.za aimed at limiting crime; or at least trying to reduce the impact.
Non profit agency operating since 1986 offering investigative services. Experienced in missing, abducted or runaway children.
A site of missing children who do not get much publicity, or are cold cases.
In this video series, Nancy McBride, the National Safety Director for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children answers questions regarding personal child safety on topics ranging from the Internet, School safety, Holiday safety, and information about child identification. The Q&A provides helpful tips and tools for parents and guardians to help keep their children safer.
Works to recover missing children across the United States and serves as a support team to families and a liaison to law enforcement. Includes a tribute to the 6 year old namesake abducted in 1995.
A resource site dedicated to abduction prevention, recovery, and support.
A non profit, non governmental organization in India providing free services to the parents of missing kids. Online resources include searchable database of missing children.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s® (NCMEC) mission is to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation; help find missing children; and assist victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.
Should law enforcement determine your child is missing, make sure they enter them into NCIC.The purpose for maintaining the NCIC system is to provide a computerized database for ready access by a criminal justice agency making an inquiry and for prompt disclosure of information in the system from other criminal justice agencies about crimes and criminals. This information assists authorized agencies in criminal justice and related law enforcement objectives, such as apprehending fugitives, locating missing persons, locating and returning stolen property, as well as in the protection of the law enforcement officers encountering the individuals described in the system.
Our mission at the National Runaway Switchboard is to help keep America’s runaway and at-risk youth safe and off the streets.
On May 25, 2005, National Missing Children’s Day, the Nebraska Unicameral passed LB111, Jason’s Law, establishing the Missing Person’s Clearinghouse. Jason’s Law was created by the family of Jason Jolkowski, of Omaha. Jason was 19 years old when he disappeared from in front of his Omaha home on June 13, 2001. Jason remains one of the missing. His picture and information appear on the Missing Person’s Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse will serve as a central repository for information on missing persons to include missing children. The information is collected and disseminated to assist law enforcement agencies, public and private organizations and the citizens of Nebraska in locating missing persons.
Information on missing kids in New York state.
The NetSmartz Workshop is an interactive, educational safety resource to teach kids and teens how to stay safer on the Internet.
OJJDP provides national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. OJJDP supports states and communities in their efforts to develop and implement effective and coordinated prevention and intervention programs and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds offenders accountable, and provides treatment and rehabilitative services tailored to the needs of juveniles and their families.
Operation Cyber Tip was founded in 2007 as an online resource to help bring awareness to missing children cases and teach people how they can help too. We will use our site to create a network of email lists and RSS feeds to bring out the infromation on missing child cases to the world by use of the internet. It’s more important now then ever before to help our children and to not let these cases disappear into the back of our minds.
Multifaceted program that includes the RCMP’s Missing Children’s Registry.
A nonprofit organization for families of those lost to the streets. Message boards, flyers, resources and inspirational materials.
Foundation for Prevention of child abduction, and aid in the search.
Will help find missing children and adults for free.
” Our mission as a non profit organization is to create and increase public awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance to families of the missing by providing resources and support.”
Project Safekids is a not for profit community service organization dedicated to creating awareness of the dangers that face our children and families daily.
Duracell® and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) have developed the Power of Parents program — a nationwide child safety preparedness program designed to help families protect their children. The program helps to dispel the most common safety myths and remind families of the importance of keeping an up-to-date photo of their child.
The Rachel Alert Network, or RAN, is a charitable organization which helps prevent abductions through awareness education and provides information to friends and families of abducted persons. The Rachel Alert Network sponsors M.U.S.T. women’s self-defense and awareness seminars.
radKIDS, Inc. is committed to providing education that enhances the ability of children, parents, and families to utilize knowledge, skills, and power to protect themselves from violence and harm.
In memory of Sam and Lindsey Porter, the mission is to improving the Amber Alert system, establish financial support for families of missing persons and develop counseling for those dealing with the stress of missing children cases.
Links to resources that provide parents with the tools needed to protect and safeguard their children. Check photographs and files on missing children.
Take Root’s mission is to respond to parental abduction by facilitating healing, providing knowledge, and raising public issue awareness from the perspective of the abducted child. The Take Root Support & Advocates Network was established to enable abducted children to tell their stories while providing a new knowledge-base for the development of Educational Resources for impacted families and the professionals who assist them.
Tamara Brooks sponsors the Tamara Brooks Fund and speaks out on the Amber Alert System to help victims of childhood violence.
The Texas Equusearch Mounted Search and Recovery Team was started in August 2000, with the purpose to provide volunteer horse mounted search and recovery for Lost and Missing persons. Our resources range from horse and rider teams to foot searchers, water (divers, boats) air (planes, helicopters), dog teams (air scent, cadaver and tracking) and 4×4 vehicles. We have also utilized infrared cameras in some of our searches.
We at the Tommy Foundation feel that one child missing is one child too many. Through donations, we are helping to bring public awareness, empowering communities on what to do if a child is missing, and dispensing child safety information. Our mission is to save or protect child victims. We also give victim impact presentations to Law Enforcement trainings.
What happens when a young person goes missing, but is over the age of 18? Many agencies that assist in the search for younger kids won’t get involved.
United Response Search and Rescue Team will provide search and recovery crisis intervention service for missing and abducted children and adults of all ages and backgrounds
Established organization which provides services in the prevention, location, recovery and reunification of missing and abducted children since 1980.
Wander Wear® Inc.’s mission is to prevent kids from getting lost by developing practical information and affordable product solutions. Wander Wear Family Safety Experts regularly speak to the media and at parent, grandparent, and caregiver events to share tips that any caregiver can use to keep kids safe in public places such as malls, amusement parks, beaches, and airports.

Below, is a table from the FBI- children that have been murdered since 1998 right here in the USA:
(Source: 
 Puzzanchera, C. and Kang, W. (2008). "Easy Access to the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports: 1980-2006." Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/ezashr/

Data source: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Supplementary Homicide Reports 1980-2006 [machine-readable data files].)

Count0 to 56 to 1112 to 1415 to 17Total
19986091371345141,394
19995761291154701,290
20005411061153681,130
2001600118813531,153
20025341281003791,142
2003559106743571,096
200451895923501,055
2005523102924101,126
20065191001074231,150
Total4,9801,0239093,62310,535

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