NEWS RELEASE





For further information please contact:


Capt. Christian T. Ricks


(573) 526-6115


Q0501





May 05, 2005


EMPHASIS: Remember Our Missing Children





Each year on May 25, our nation remembers its lost children -- children who have run away, been stolen away, or been abandoned. This day has been known as National Missing Children's Day since May 25, 1983. On that day, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation declaring May 25 as Missing Children’s Day. In that proclamation, President Reagan states, "The solution to this problem demands the attention and cooperation of all our law enforcement agencies, city, state, and local ... I urge all our law enforcement agencies to take particular notice of the danger that threatens any child who has lost his or her home." This is the function of the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Juvenile/Missing Persons' Unit.





Thousands of children run away from home each year, while others are abducted (usually by a family member or friend), or abandoned by their parents. Surprisingly, very few missing children result from stranger abductions, despite popular beliefs perpetuated by movies and the media. In 2004, Missouri law enforcement took 11,448 reports on missing children. The positive side is that 87.7 percent of these missing children were found and brought home, or they returned on their own. At the beginning of 2005, there were 1,403 children still missing. No matter how the child disappears, their absence always fills family and friends with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty.





The goal of National Missing Children's Day is to bring public attention to the growing problem of missing children. Missouri's state clearinghouse for missing children, which is part of the Patrol’s Juvenile/Missing Persons Unit, is participating in National Missing Children's Day, along with many other businesses and child advocacy organizations around the state and nation. Patrol employees, and anyone who wants to stand up for America’s missing children, are asked to wear a white ribbon on Wednesday, May 25, to honor all of our missing children who are lost and alone. In addition, members of the Patrol will drive with their headlights on that day. The public is invited to do the same, remembering those children who are not home.