Who & Why?
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States - that equates to 2,000 each day. Of that number, approximately 200,000 are abducted by family members, 58,000 by non-family members, the primary motive for which is sexual. The possibility that your child will be missing or sexually exploited is remote. Nevertheless, as parents and guardians you should do your best to keep your child safe and be prepared for the unthinkable.
The reports that 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States - that equates to 2,000 each day. Of that number, approximately 200,000 are abducted by family members, 58,000 by non-family members, the primary motive for which is sexual. The possibility that your child will be missing or sexually exploited is remote. Nevertheless, as parents and guardians you should do your best to keep your child safe and be prepared for the unthinkable.
Many parents don't have the items available at their fingertips to assist law enforcement in locating their missing child - current photographs, scent traceable DNA samples, etc. The Masons of Nebraska are committed to helping provide those necessary items to parents at no cost through the Masonic CHIP Kit.
CHIP kits have been generated for children and college students aged 0-21 in Nebraska, as well as senior citizens residing in an Alzheimer's care facility. Children of any age are at risk of abduction. Although as they get older, kids tend to think their risk decreases, that is not the case. For this reason, the program is open to any child, of any age.
Teen Abductions are Most Common (by Lori Cichielo, Missouri CHIP)
No parent wants to believe that the unimaginable could happen to them, though Missourian's endured the alarming abduction of 13 year-old Ben Ownby on January 8, 2007, as well as the miraculous outcome of recovering not one, but two missing teenagers - one after five days - the other, Shawn Hornbeck, after four-and-a-half years.
Celebrating this kind of positive outcome has been beyond joyous for everyone directly or indirectly involved. However, it also confirms that we aren't doing enough to bolster the recovery of our missing teens.
Nearly 2,000 children are reported missing or abducted in the United States each day. Contrary to what most people believe, young children are not the most common victims of abduction. Reports indicate that teenagers are the most frequent victims of both non-family abductions and stereotypical kidnappings - 81% were children 12 or older.[1] When a child under 12 years old goes missing there, is no second guessing whether or not foul play is the culprit. This is not the case for teens or even tweens (savvy 8 - 12 year-olds) for that matter. Considerations due to independence, rebellion and other age appropriate factors are measured before a teen is actually deemed missing. Time is ticking. When an Amber Alert is finally issued, more time is required to get that teen's vital information out to authorities and the public.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) provided to our MasoniCHIP spokesperson, Dr. David Harte, Forensic Dentist, the counts of active missing children on a single day at one specific time of day. The results are staggering and are provided to illustrate just how susceptible our teens are - girls and boys. WE URGE YOU TO SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH YOUR TEEN.
While the specific numbers reported are valid only for the unspecified date and time, the numbers can also be used as relative examples of our daily active case numbers. The NCMEC does not receive all calls when a child goes missing. For that reason, the numbers of children reported missing to us are fewer than the numbers quoted in the national study conducted by the Department of Justice. NCMEC also has slightly different definitions for missing children categories than the department of Justice study.[2]
[1] The National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART).
[2] Information Collected for Dr. David Harte for the National MasoniCHIP Conference.
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