My Child is Missing! What Do I Do?

The FBI reports 765,000 children in America go missing each year, or one child every 40 seconds.  We’ve all seen the tragic stories of abducted children on television, the paper, and on milk cartons. If your child disappeared, would you know what to do? The time to prepare for that which you never want to have to face is now!

The FBI, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), and the National Child Identification Program (NCIP) have worked together to give parents info they need to guide them in time of crisis. Last summer, the FBI released a free app, available for iPhones only at this time (but due to be available for Androids later this year) that helps parents prepare for such an emergency and helps them to know what to do if faced with this unthinkable situation.  In response to feedback, the FBI app has since been enhanced to include some important additional features.

The application is called “FBI Child ID.” Once downloaded to your phone, you can create a profile for each of your children, storing pertinent information including height, weight, and other identifying information. It allows you to upload a picture of your child with that profile. God forbid you should need it, but the app gives you step-by-step, chronological information as what you should do and when if your child is missing, and it allows you, with the click of a button, to submit the data you stored to the authorities. When it comes to our children and a crisis, it’s sometimes hard to be level headed in the middle of all that emotion, and this may make the difference for your sanity and to aid law enforcement in getting your child back to you more quickly.

The AFCA has partnered for some time with the NCIP, and agreed to push info about the FBI app last fall to its members. Though the FBI app is free, the ID kit from NCIP has a nominal charge depending upon the number of kits purchased. For 9 or fewer, the cost is only $9.95. Each kit comes with an inkless fingerprinting card, a DNA collection, and a wallet card to store your data. Again, the key to faster, safer recovery of your child is to plan ahead so you can speak to the facts concerning your child when your mind is panicking and your heart racing.

For more information regarding child abduction and steps you can take to protect those you love, please check out and bookmark the website for The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Go back there from time to time. Who knows? You just might be the conduit that returns a much beloved child to loved ones in anguish. In addition, consider sharing these Safety Tips published by the FBI with your kids.

Our children are our greatest treasures. We must take steps to protect them. Downloading the app, securing the ID kit, and taking the steps it takes to complete them may help to bring your baby home.