April 19, 2010
May 25th Marks 28th National Missing Children's Day
He was a blond haired, blue eyed charmer. Though he was only six years old, he convinced his parents he was ready to walk the two block from home to the school bus drop off. His parents relented; after all, Soho had the lowest crime rate in New York City. And it was only two blocks.
Etan Patz never made it home. By late afternoon his frantic parents contacted the police and started a nation-wide search for their son by disseminating posters of the many photographs of Etan that his professional photographer father had taken of him. An army of volunteers helped in the search for the little boy. May 25, 1979 marks the day Stan and Julie Patz last saw their son.
Six year old Adam Walsh was with his mother in a Hollywood, Florida department store when he went missing on July 27, 1981. His decapitated head was found two weeks later in a canal nearby. Many leads came in on the case, but no arrest was ever made. The crime was eventually attributed to a drifter named Otis Toole, but not until twelve years after his death in prison where he was serving a life sentence for another murder.
For three years the people of Atlanta, Georgia were terrorized by a serial killer who claimed twenty nine young victims before being apprehended and arrested in May of 1981. Wayne Williams is currentlyserving a life sentence having been convicted of just two of the murders.
The problem facing law enforcement agencies in all of these cases was lack of a coordinated effort in gathering and distributing leads and information when children go missing. The national attention generated by these cases led to the passage of several laws including the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and in 1983 President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25 National Missing Children's Day to honor Etan and to bring public awareness to the plight of missing children. One of the initiatives of this day is to remind parents to keep high resolution photographs of their children in the event of an emergency.
No parent wants to consider the possibility their child will be abducted. The reality is that children do go missing, and you cannot afford to assume it will not happen to your family. The Department of Justice reports nearly 800,000 children are reported missing each year, and there is a one in forty-two chance it could happen to your child go before age 19. When a child does go missing, time is critical, and law enforcement officials will need certain information to adequately conduct a search, including high-resolution photographs.
InstantAmber provides the tools for you to store vital information which can be accessed with your permission by law enforcement officials in such situation. Saving time could mean saving your child's life. InstantAmber will provide you peach of mind knowing you are as prepared as possible. Click here to register your children.
