Sunday is “National Missing Children’s Day” and state officials are asking you to participate. Wendie Nerem is the operations coordinator for the Iowa Missing Person Information Clearinghouse. One of the main things they want to do Sunday is make people aware of the missing children. She says everyone is asked to turn on their headlights and porch lights Sunday to show they’re aware of the missing children, and to show them the way home. Nerem says there are over 200 Iowa kids listed as missing. She says they have 237 missing kids, with 90 percent of them recent cases. While every parent fears having their child abducted, Nerem says most of the kids leave on their own. She says a majority of the missing are runaways, and most eventually come home. Nerem says parents can take precautions to prevent harm from coming to their children.She says one of the main things to do is to bring your children up with a sense of confidence, and build up their self esteem, so they aren’t easily lured away. While you don’t want to think about it happening, Nerem says you should be prepared to help police if your child turns up missing. She says you should have a good picture of your child available, along with a description so if the child does turn up missing, the information can get out as quickly as possible. For more information, surf to www.state.ia.us/missing.
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