Missing Children
More than 350,000 children are kidnapped each year. Most are taken by family members, but almost 5,000 are taken by strangers. The Internet is helping people find some of these missing children-thanks to its international reach and popularity.
Last April, a missing girl was found after a volunteer recognized her picture in an electronic alert dispatched by the Internet Emergency Broadcast System. The Broadcast System, from Safe Kids International (www.missingkids.org), sends photos and descriptive information to law-enforcement agencies, bus and train stations, hospitals, schools, the media, and volunteers throughout the country.
Several other 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.
Here are five other sites to check out:
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, www.missingkids.org
- Children Missing Organization, www.children-missing.org
- Child Quest International, www.childquest.org
- Lost Children's Network, www.lostchildren.org
- The Klaas Kids Foundation, www.klaaskids.org