As a parent, there is nothing scarier than finding out that your child has gone missing. Your first instinct may be to go out and look for him or her on your own. Even though you feel like you need to do everything you can, including going door-to-door yourself, the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath. Remain calm. Then, remember that you do not have to go through this alone. There are professionals who are willing to lend a helping hand if you are trying to find a missing child. They might even educate you with a few statistics. How many children in the United States go missing every year? What happens to children who go missing? You might be surprised to hear the results.
How Many Children Go Missing in the United States Every Year?
Each year, approximately 800,000 children are reported missing in the United States at some point. For parents, this may come as a shock. This number includes children who get lost, children who get hurt, children who have been abducted, and children who have run away.
Of this number, approximately a quarter of them are taken by family members. Usually, this abduction takes place during a custody battle. One parent who does not have custody decides to take the child away from the other parent. Between 50,000 and 60,000 abductions are perpetrated by someone who is not a member of the family but is familiar to the child. In this case, someone who takes the child has usually studied that child’s habits in order to find the perfect place to grab him or her. Usually, the child has been seduced into going willingly with the person.
Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of children are recovered alive. Regardless of who has taken the child, close to 95 percent of children are located and recovered and 72 hours. Close to half of all children who go missing or actually found within three hours. Therefore, if parents rely on the help of trained professionals, they can increase the chances of having their child recovered alive, safe, and sound. Speed is everything, so parents need to know what to do if their child has gone missing. In addition to thinking about who may have taken the child, or where he or she may have gone off to, there are other steps parents can take as well.
Get Pictures Out as Quickly as Possible
If your child has gone missing, the most important thing for you to do is to get your child’s picture in front of as many people as possible as fast as possible. The more people there are looking for your child, or who at least know what the child looks like, the faster your child can be recovered. For example, you want to take advantage of social media. If you have social media accounts, you should post your child’s picture everywhere and let other people know that your child has gone missing. With hundreds of millions of people using social media on a daily basis, this is a quick way to get people looking for your child.
It is also a good idea to post pictures in local grocery stores. Given that grocery stores have a tremendous amount of traffic on a daily basis, this is another way to get as many people to see your child’s picture as possible. You never know who might see your child out and about somewhere.
Of course, you also need to contact the local authorities and report that your child has gone missing. This is the fastest way to get trained professionals looking for your child. Even though you may not want to contact the authorities because you feel like they are going to blame you, this is simply not going to happen. Local authorities understand just how important it is to act quickly. They understand the statistics that have been mentioned above. Therefore, it will quickly become an all-hands-on-deck situation as they try to recover your child as quickly as possible. Law enforcement professionals also understand how to use social media to convince other people to start looking for your child. Law enforcement professionals also have the manpower to quickly track down leads as they come in. They can figure out what is an actual lead and what is not. That way, you can increase the chances of having your child recovered safe and sound.
Help with Parental Kidnappings, Regardless of Borders
Remember that 19 out of every 20 children who go missing are usually found within 72 hours. Approximately a quarter of all children who go missing are taken by a parent who does not have custody. A significant proportion of these children have also run away from home for one reason or another. If you are looking for help finding a missing child, we are here to assist you. We are The Committee for Missing Children, Inc, and we have connections with a wide variety of resources in the local area. We can help you connect with law enforcement professionals, attorneys, and nonprofit organizations who can help you find a missing child. We also have financial resources we can use to cover travel expenses, plane tickets, legal fees, and meals you may need to eat as you are looking for your child. We are here to help reunite families. It would be our honor to assist you as well. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you find your missing child, please contact us today. We look forward to helping you find your missing child.
