How many children are reported missing each year?

​The U.S. Department of Justice reports:

• 797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day.
• 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
• 58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions.
• 115 children were the victims of “stereotypical” kidnapping. (These crimes involve someone the child does not know or someone of slight acquaintance, who holds the child overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, kills the child, demands ransom, or intends to keep the

Several non-profit Web sites maintain photo databases and profiles of missing children, and photos of and details about their alleged abductors. They show pictures of the child prior to his or her disappearance or abduction, as well as a "computer-aged" version showing how the child might look today. The hope is that visitors will recognize faces and take action.

North Dakota AMBER Alert The AMBER Plan  is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS), formerly called the Emergency Broadcast System, to air a description of the abducted child and suspected abductor. This is the same concept used during severe weather emergencies. The goal of the AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and safe return of the child.

The criteria that define an AMBER Alert are:

1. The abduction involves a child or children 17 years of age or younger;
2. Confirmation by local law enforcement of a stranger or a family abduction in which the child is believed to be in grave danger of serious bodily harm or death; and,
3. Descriptive information about the child, the abductor, and/or suspect's vehicle to assist with the safe recovery of the victim and/or the apprehension of the suspect.
4. Is there enough information about the child, suspect, and/or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help?

Law Enforcement Request for AMBER Alert Activation Form·        
AMBER Alert Activation Form - Rich Text Format (179kb rtf)
AMBER Alert Activation Form - PDF (84kb pdf)
 
What to do if Your Child is Missing

1. Immediately call or go to your local law enforcement agency (police or sheriff) and file a missing person report. When a child is missing there is no waiting period in North Dakota.
2. Bring the most recent color photograph of the child, along with the child's fingerprints, hair sample, blood type, and physical description including a description of the clothes the child was wearing.
3. Information about your missing child will automatically be entered into the National Crime Information Center computer's Missing Person File (NCIC-MPF).
4. Be alert to a teenager or adult who is paying an unusual amount of attention to your children or giving them inappropriate or expensive gifts.
5. Contact other non-profit missing child organizations and state clearinghouses in adjacent states. Register your missing child and find out what other search assistance and support services they can provide.
6. Be sensitive to changes in your children's behavior; they are a signal that you should sit down and talk to your children about what caused the changes.
7. Teach your children to trust their own feelings and assure them that they have the right to say no to what they sense is wrong.

 

Related Sites:
Missing children in North Dakota
Missing Children Organizations 
North Dakota Amber Alert
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Child Quest International 
The Klaas Kids Foundation