Free: Safety Info on Missing Children’s Day

plans to distribute child safety information to the public and at local daycare centers Friday, which is National Missing Children’s Day. 

Every year in America, an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing, more than 2,000 each day. Of that number, 200,000 are abducted by family members and 58,000 are abducted by non-family members, for which the primary motive is sexual. Each year, 115 children are the victims of the most serious abductions; they are taken by non-family members and either murdered, ransomed or taken with the intent to keep.

“We are continually looking at our child abduction protocol to ensure that we are doing everything we can as rapidly as possible when responding to reports of missing children," Capt. Jeff Black said in a release. "We work hand in hand with the Child Abduction Response Team, which is a group of individuals from various state agencies who are trained and prepared to respond to missing, endangered or abducted children.”

May 25 has been observed as National Missing Children’s Day since 1983, serves as an annual reminder that there are thousands of children who are still missing and stresses the importance of making child protection a national priority.

The Take 25 campaign is a national child safety public awareness campaign created in 2007 by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The campaign encourages parents to take 25 minutes to talk to their children about safety and ways to prevent abduction. The campaign begins on May 1 and continues through May 25 every year in communities throughout the country.

“We know that teaching children about safety works. Community events play an important role in helping parents understand how they can help save a child’s life,” said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. “We are very grateful to our local partners who share our interest in keeping children safe. They play an important role in raising public awareness in communities throughout America.”

An analysis of attempted abduction cases by NCMEC found that in 84 percent of the cases, the child escaped would-be abductors through their own actions.

Teaching children about safety works. It saves lives.