If your Child is Missing

If your child is missing, you must ACT IMMEDIATELY. Time is of the essence.

What you need to do:

  • If your child is missing from home, search the house checking the trunk and the inside of your car, closets, piles of laundry, in and under beds, inside large appliances including refrigerators, washer or dryers, in the yard or wherever a child may crawl or hide. You must immediately check the pool and the bath tubs.
  • If you still cannot find your child, immediately call 911 or your local law enforcement agency. 
  • If you notice your child is missing in a store or a mall, notify the store manager or security officer. Then immediately call 911 or your local law-enforcement agency. Many stores have a Code Adam plan of action— if a child is missing in the store, employees immediately mobilize to look for the missing child. Show your child’s ID card to store manager or the security officer. 
  • When you call law enforcement, provide your child's I.D. card as well as the CDROM that contains your child’s complete information including name, date of birth, height, weight, photo, fingerprints and any other unique identifiers such as eyeglasses and braces. Tell them when you noticed that your child was missing and what clothing he or she was wearing.
  • Insert the Guard-A-Kid CDROM into any PC and click on “View Child’s Information”. When viewing the “Main Information”, click on “Print Information”. The software creates a poster with your child’s complete information including the photo. You can use this to create a Missing Child Poster and place it in key areas in your community.
  • Request that your child's name and identifying information be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File. 
  • After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on their toll-free telephone number: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
  • Forward your missing child’s ID on your mobile phone to all the contacts on your phone that can potentially help in finding your child. Ask each person to forward this information to all of their contacts and so on.
  • Forward your missing child’s ID by email to all the contacts on your email list that can potentially help in locating your child. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provides a quick reference guide for families in both English and Spanish.