Governor Vilsack has declared this (Thursday) Missing Children’s Day in Iowa. Jeanie Dowd, manager of Iowa’s Missing Person Information Clearinghouse, says the goal of the day is to raise awareness about missing kids and to bring ’em home.
Dowd says on any given day, there are nearly 300 people on Iowa’s missing persons list, which includes everyone of any age. She says 95-percent of those on the list are juveniles or runaways and most of them return in a short time, but some are long-term and they “have not been forgotten.”
Events for this day are focused on making Iowans realize the vulnerabilities of children — as Dowd says two-thousand children are reported missing every day nationwide. She urges parents especially to visit the website, look at the pictures and find some materials to discuss with their kids in hopes future abductions can be prevented.
Dowd says there will be a test today of Iowa’s Amber Alert system and she urges people to sign up for what are called Wireless Amber Alerts, free reports on missing children which are sent to cellular phones. It contains the details of who is missing, a description of the person, the vehicle, the abductor and where they may be traveling.
For information on the state’s Missing Persons Information Clearinghouse, surf to: “www.iowaonline.state.ia.us/mpic/” while the Wireless Amber Alerts are available via: “www.wirelessamberalerts.org”. For details on the national program, go to: “www.missingkids.com”.
Related web sites:
Missing Kids website