Crime & Safety
Worcester Police Boost Social Media Efforts For Missing Kids
Worcester police have been using Twitter and Facebook more often recently to share alerts about kids who go missing or run away.
WORCESTER, MA — Since the beginning of the year, Worcester police have used social media to share more than a dozen alerts about city residents who have gone missing — a majority of them missing teenagers.
But the city isn't necessarily seeing an increase in missing persons cases. According to a police spokesperson, the department has more often been asking families if they want to use social media as a tool to locate a missing person.
"We have noticed that the use of social media has often been successful in reuniting runaway teens with their parents quickly," Lt. Sean Murtha said this week. "When we take runaway teen reports, we have been explaining this to the parents and offering them the option to put the information out over social media."
In a typical incident, Worcester police will send out a tweet and post on Facebook about the missing child or adult. Those posts typically get picked up by media outlets in Worcester and across the state. Over three days last week, Worcester police reported three 14-year-olds as missing, which made news in the Boston area.
Worcester police have always offered parents the option of a social media post, Murtha said, but officers have been highlighting it as an option more frequently over the past month. The department has closed to 50,000 followers on Twitter, plus 80,000 followers on Facebook.
Paye Still Missing
One teen highlighted by Worcester police recently was Sue Paye. The 15-year-old left her Mason Street home in early January, and was likely bound for New York City.
Paye's family believes the teen ran away to join the fundamentalist Christian Deeper Life Bible Church. Her uncle told New York TV station WPIX that the teen has been "brainwashed" by the church, and may be hiding somewhere in Brooklyn.
Deeper Life Bible Church, also known as Deeper Christian Life Ministry, was founded in Lagos in the 1970s, but has locations across the Northeast.
Anyone with information about Paye's location can call Worcester police at (508) 799-8606.
