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FAQ:
Missing Children
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to the Press Room
How
many missing children are there?
The problem of missing children is complex and multifaceted. Children
may become missing due to abduction by nonfamily members or abduction
by family members. Children may be missing as a result of running
away from home. Children may also be missing involuntarily for
reasons other than abduction, due to becoming lost, injured or otherwise
missing to their parents or guardians. The best national estimates
for the number of missing children are found in the National Incidence
Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART-2), released
in October 2002. According to NISMART-2, an estimated
- 800,000 children younger than 18 are missing each
year, or an average of 2,000 children reported missing each day.
- 200,000 children were were abducted by family members.
- 58,000 children were abducted by nonfamily members,
and
- 115 children were the victims of “stereotypical”
kidnapping. These crimes involve someone the child does not know, or
knows only slightly, who holds the child
overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, kills the child,
demands ransom, or intends to keep the child permanently.
[Andrea J. Sedlak, David Finkelhor, Heather Hammer,
and Dana J. Schultz. U.S. Department of Justice. "National Estimates
of Missing Children: An Overview" in National Incidence Studies
of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children. Washington,
DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice
Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, October 2002, page 5.]
For more information, see:
How
many missing children are found deceased? What hours are most critical
when trying to located a missing child?
According to a 1997 study, Case Management for Missing Children
Homicide Investigation, the murder of an abducted child is a rare
event; an estimated 100 such incidents occur in the United States each
year.1 However, the study further found that 76.2 percent of abducted
children who are murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction.2
[Katherine M. Brown, Robert D. Keppel,
Joseph G. Weis, and Marvin E. Skeen. CASE MANAGEMENT for
Missing Children Homicide Investigation.
Olympia, Washington: Office of the Attorney General, State of Washington,
and U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, May 2006, pages ix, 13.]
For victim and predator profiles and missing-children homicide statistics
please read: Case
Management for Missing Children Homicide Investigation.  (This
is a 4MB file and may require extra time to download.)
How
can I prepare myself in case my child becomes missing?
- Keep a complete description of your child on hand.
- Take color photographs of your child every six months.
- Have your dentist prepare and maintain dental charts for your child,
and be sure they are updated each time an examination or dental work
is performed.
- Know where your child's medical records are located.
- Arrange with your local law-enforcement agency to have your child
fingerprinted and keep the fingerprints in a safe and easily accessible
place.
- Keep a DNA sample from your child, like an old toothbrush in a brown
envelope licked closed by your child, at room temperature in a dry,
easily accessible place that is far away from heat.
What
should I do if my child is missing?
- Act immediately.
- Search your home and check with relatives, neighbors, and friends
to try and locate your child.
- If you cannot find your child, immediately report your child missing
to your local law-enforcement officers.
- Limit access to your home until law-enforcement officers arrive and
are able to collect evidence.
- Give law-enforcement officers all the information they request about
your child, and be sure to give them any information that could help
in the search.
- Request that your child's name and identifying information be immediately
entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person
File.
- Call us at 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678) to find out what
resources are available to you.
Aren't
most missing kids a result of custodial disagreements?
The largest number of missing children are, from most frequent to least
frequent:
- Runaways
- Family abductions
- Lost, injured or otherwise missing children
- Nonfamily abductions (in these cases, the child is at greatest risk
of injury or death).
How
serious are family abductions?
All cases of child abduction must be taken very seriously. In most family-related
cases, children are told that the left-behind parent doesn’t want
or love them. These children may live the life of a fugitive, always on
the run with the noncustodial parent, isolated from family, friends, home,
and school.
For definitions, kidnapping statistics, and more parental abduction information
please read:
Kidnapping
of Juveniles: Patterns From National Incident Based Report System (NIBRS)
"The
Kid Is With A Parent How Bad Can It Be?" The Crisis of Family Abductions
in America.
What
can I do to prevent family abduction?
The most important thing you can do is to maintain healthy communication
with your children and spouse. In the event of a family abduction, however,
having up-to-date photos of both your children and your spouse will be
helpful. NCMEC also recommends that you teach your child important telephone
numbers and where to go in case of an emergency.
To learn about family abductions and how to prevent them, please read
Early
Identification of Risk Factors for Parental Abduction
Just in Case…Parental
Guidelines in Case You Are Considering Family
Separation
What
is NCMEC's position about domestic violence allegations in family abductions?
It has been NCMEC’s experience that in the vast majority of family
abduction cases, battering of the spouse and/or children is not an issue
or, as is true in many of our family abduction cases, it is the batterer
who takes the child as another method of power and control over the spouse.
Allegations of domestic violence in family abduction cases are valid but
only in a small minority of cases. NCMEC supports legislation that allows
battered mothers to flee with their children to avoid imminent harm but
they must then interface with the family court system in order to resolve
the issues (this can ensure that the mother and child receive protections
that can be enforced by a court of law). Most state criminal statutes
provide a defense of fleeing violence to a charge of criminal custodial
interference. NCMEC encourages concerned parties to investigate whether
their state has the violence defense to custodial interference. Click
here to download State
Criminal Custodial Interference Statutes.
How
can I help find missing children?
There are many ways to get
involved with or donate
to NCMEC.
The best way to help is to look
at photographs of missing children and report any information about
those children to our toll-free Hotline: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
Do
the posters I see and the cards I get in the mail really help recover
missing children?
Absolutely. These posters reach millions and prompt citizens across
the country to call NCMEC’s missing children’s hotline and
provide vital leads and information, many of which lead to the recovery
of missing children.
Do
you put pictures of missing kids on milk cartons?
NCMEC does not post photographs of missing children on milk cartons,
but NCMEC photo partners may do so. Today, NCMEC distributes photographs
through a network of nearly 400 private-sector photo partners nationwide. The
largest distributors of NCMEC’s missing child photographs include
the Valassis program that reaches more than 100 million homes per week;
bulletin boards in every Walmart store; USA Today’s weekly
missing child photograph; weekly missing child features on CNN; features
of missing children on every newscast, every day on WABC-TV in New York;
broadcast fax distribution via LexisNexis' Adam program;
and many others.
What
happens to a child's picture when he or she is recovered?
Once a child is recovered, NCMEC no longer has legal authority to grant
use of the child's (and/or the abductor’s) image and information,
even if the poster is still on our web site. In order to use a recovered
child’s photo we must have a new media release form signed by the
custodial parent or guardian.
[Guidelines in this section are adapted from
brochures titled Just in Case…Parental guidelines in case your
child might someday be missing, Just in Case…Parental guidelines
in case your child might someday be the victim of sexual exploitation,
and Preventing the Sexual Exploitation of Children. Copyright
© respectively 1985, 1985, and 2003 National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children. All rights reserved.]
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