Amber Alert Ready: Parents Turn Out for MOCHIP Child ID Event

An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing each year–more than 2,000 children every day, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Because of that, the gave area parents an opportunity to jump-start an action plan should any of their children go missing.

More than 100 families in Hazelwood and the surrounding areas participated in the Missouri Child ID and Protection (MOCHIP) event on Saturday at at St. Louis Mills.

The sponsored the third annual event, in partnership with St. Charles Masonic Lodge No. 241 and assistance from Bridgeton Masonic Lodge No. 80.

Phil Cary, the Masonic Children’s Foundation’s MOCHIP regional coordinator, said that these events are important because children come up missing every day, and many parents don’t have the proper information on file.

“That’s what these events do—provide the proper information in such a way that it gets out as fast as possible,” Phil Cary said. “Children are missing. We can help.”

Parents were asked to fill out a two-sided form for each child as well as a permission slip, and then kids went through a series of stations that were conveniently set up inside the Cabela’s store. At the photo station, each child was photographed from three angles, which Phil Cary said would be used for automatic facial identification processes if the child should come up missing.

At the fingerprint station, volunteers took electronic prints of all 10 of each child’s fingers. One station took a dental impression, a DNA sample and a scent sample from the inside of each child’s mouth. Phil Cary said this information could be used for recovery efforts if necessary, and that the DNA and scent samples would remain effective for two years, provided they’re kept in a moderate climate and in the provided envelopes. He said a filing cabinet or a dresser drawer would work fine.

The information parents supplied, as well as the photos and fingerprints, were put on a specially encrypted disk that could be given to police if a child were to come up missing. The disk, along with the information sheet and dental wafer, was included in a sealed envelope and given to parents to keep in their files. Parents also received two wallet-sized laminated identification cards for each child.

“The only thing we keep at the end of the day is the permission slip,” said Phil's wife Chris Cary, MOCHIP's technical advisor. “Parents should bring all of this information with them if they go out of town, so that if anything happens, they’ve got it.”

Both Carys agreed that parents should not keep the identification envelopes in a safety deposit box, because in the event of an emergency, it’s essential to get the information to police as quickly as possible.

“When the police officer puts it in his computer and does his magic on his systems, a statewide alert will take three minutes to actually broadcast all this information to every police station that’s monitoring the alert, as well as every radio station, TV station and newspaper,” Phil Cary said. “This will also include the Amber Alert billboards within the state and any website that monitors Amber alerts.”

Additionally, Phil Cary said that if it’s a national broadcast, it would only take about 20 minutes to reach every monitoring agency.

Phil Cary said that in six years, MOCHIP has processed more than 126,000 children.

“Seven have been found alive as a result of our efforts,” he added. “Our system is geared to recovery and finding. Namely finding.”

The MOCHIP program is sponsored by the Masonic Children’s Foundation. In Missouri, its headquarters is located at the Grand Lodge of Missiouri A.F. & A.M. in Columbia. Phil Cary said there are 50,000 Masons in Missouri, and $2 of each member’s dues are put into the program.

“That gives us enough money already to do 24,000 to 25,000 children a year, then we get donations on top of that,” Phil Cary said. “The donations then take care of the materials, the computers you see here, and the remaining identifications we do.”

Phil Cary said the equipment used at Saturday’s event cost around $40,000, and that each child’s packet costs about $5. MOCHIP events are free to families who participate. He said at the time of interview on Saturday, the group and its volunteers had already processed around 110 children.

“We’ve had events that have seen as many as 420 in one day—and we’ve had events that see as little as five,” he said. “I’ll drive 400 miles for one child. That’s what we do, and that’s who we are—we are committed to the community.”

Other sponsors included the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Shriners International, the Gateway Area Chapter of the Safari Club International and several others. To get involved with the MOCHIP program, host an event or to make a donation, visit the Missouri Masons site.