What to do when your child is missing

[lendingmomma]

If Your Child is Missing form Americas Most Wanted website.

Act immediately if you believe that your child is missing.

• If your child is missing from home, search the house checking closets, piles of laundry, in and under beds, inside old refrigerators—wherever a child may crawl or hide.

• If you still cannot find your child, immediately call your local law-enforcement agency.

• If your child disappears in a store, notify the store manager or security office. Then immediately call your local law-enforcement agency. Many stores have a Code Adam plan of action—if a child is missing in the store, employees immediately mobilize to look for the missing child.

• When you call law enforcement, provide your child's name, date of birth, height, weight, and any other unique identifiers such as eyeglasses and braces. Tell them when you noticed that your child was missing and what clothing he or she was wearing.

• Request that your child's name and identifying information be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File.

• After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on our toll-free telephone number, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). If your computer is equipped with a microphone and speakers you may talk to one of our Hotline operators via the Internet

[4girlzmom]

Child Safety Tips To Prevent Abductions

1. Teach your children their full names, addresses and phone numbers.
2. Teach your children how to make a long distance call (both directly to you using the area code and by dialing "0" for the operator).
3. Know your neighbors and your child's friends, including their names, addresses and telephone numbers.
4. Know the routes your child takes to and from school, friends' homes and other activities.
5. Be involved in your child's activities by volunteering at school, clubs, and sporting events - participate in a neighborhood watch program.
6. Before leaving your child in the care of a day-care, pre-school, baby sitter, or youth organization, check their references and qualifications. Ask if criminal background checks are conducted before new staff members are hired.
7. Write your police chief, sheriff and other elected officials, in support of the Amber Alert Plan, police missing person programs, and other child safety efforts; write the general managers of your local radio and TV stations in support of the Amber Alert Plan and the Emergency Alert System.
8. Review the web sites of Missing Child Organizations for volunteer opportunities, such as e-mailing or distributing posters of missing children.
9. Teach your child what to do if approached by a stranger. Common uses are offering a ride, gifts or candy, asking the child to help them look for a lost dog or cat, or claiming that the child's parent has asked them to bring the child home because of an emergency.
10. Listen to your child; don't disregard their fears. Instead, let them know that you take their fears and concerns seriously.