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National Missing Children's Day - May 25
Between 1979 and 1981 a series of high-profile missing-children cases
became national headlines. Three such cases contributed to the shock of
the nation’s consciousness bringing attention to the seriousness
of child victimization and forever changing the response by law-enforcement
agencies to reports of missing children.
 On
May 25, 1979, Etan Patz disappeared from a New York City street on his
way to school. Even before cases of missing children routinely garnered
national media attention, Etan’s case quickly received a lot of
coverage. His father, a professional photographer, disseminated black-and-white
photographs of Etan in an effort to find him. The massive search and media
attention that followed focused the nation’s attention on the problem
of child abduction and lack of plans to address it.
For almost three years national media attention was focused on Atlanta,
Georgia, where the bodies of young boys and girls were discovered in lakes,
marshes, and ponds along roadside trails. By the time a suspect was arrested
and identified in 1981, 29 bodies were recovered. The suspect was apprehended,
convicted, and now serves a life sentence in prison.
On July 27, 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a Florida shopping
mall. His parents, John and Revé Walsh, immediately turned to law-enforcement
agencies to help find their son. To their disappointment, there was no
coordinated effort among law enforcement to search for Adam on a state
or national level, and no organization to help them in their desperation.
The tragedies of these children and others exposed a fundamental flaw.
There was no coordinated effort between federal, state, and local law
enforcement; no national response system in place; and no central resource
to help searching families. When it came to handling missing-children
cases, the United States was a nation of 50 states often acting like 50
separate countries.
The momentum that began with the disappearance of Etan, Adam, and the
29 missing and murdered children of Atlanta led to photographs of missing
children on milk cartons and, ultimately, a nationwide movement. In 1983
President Ronald Regan proclaimed May 25 National Missing Children’s
Day. Each administration since has honored this annual reminder to the
nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children with their families
and make child protection a national priority. National Missing Children’s
Day is a reminder to all parents and guardians of the need for high-quality
photographs of their children for use in case of an emergency, and for
the need for everyone to pay close attention to the posters and photographs
of missing children.
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