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June 2, 2009
Exclusive: Personal ID – Just Good Common Sense
It is every parent’s nightmare – an abducted child, your own – and it can happen in any number of a variety of scenarios. Your small child wanders away, only to be snatched by a predator, while you are distracted in the grocery store. Or you receive an early morning phone call from your daughter’s college roommate to tell you your daughter didn’t arrive home from a party the night before: she was last seen with “some guy” she met during the festivities.
These are not far-off imaginings. Of the 837,055 missing persons reported in 2001, an estimated 80 percent were children. And while about 99 percent were found within hours or days by usual law enforcement response, more than 7,000 children nationwide were missing for prolonged periods. Also, according to the 2002 U.S. Department of Justice National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children, nearly 204,000 children each year are victims of family abductions, where the child is taken by a noncustodial parent. Twenty-four percent of these abductions lasted one week to one month.
The hope of every law enforcement officer, private investigator and all others working these cases is that the child eventually turns up safe and sound. All too often, however, and especially with non-family abductions, that is not the finding as searches and interviews turn up the inevitable – an article of clothing in the woods, a shoe on the side of a lonely country side road, or a lead to the remains of your beloved daughter or son.
It is not the same world as many parents and grandparents remember – the days of roaming the neighborhoods with friends, picking up ball games and riding bikes until our mothers called us to dinner at dusk. Gone are the days when we could send our children walking blocks to the grocery store or our newly graduated teenagers off to college in a far off city without worry. While we want the best for our children, wishing them to enjoy life to its fullest as many of us did in years gone by, stories of missing children lurk in the backs of many parents’ minds.
As the guardians of our children, we parents have a responsibility to them to make their lives safe and secure. To guarantee this, as an example, insurance policies – whether for auto, life or health – are reviewed and updated regularly. However, one piece of “insurance,” one vital source of information, should be with those important papers. Photographs, updated yearly, of each family member; fingerprint cards of all family members – no matter their age; as well as medical history and/or any other identifying traits should be filed with the family’s birth certificates in a safe, secure area such as a fireproof safe in the home or safe deposit box at your local bank.
Like life insurance, you hope you’ll never need it, but it is an invaluable asset to have if your loved one goes missing. Parents tend to think of fingerprinting and identification for their smaller children, yet commonly forget about their older children, those whose adventures in life take them beyond the watchful eyes and ears of home.
As you prepare for that summer trip to your favorite theme park or prepare to send your newly graduated student off to college, check with your local civic organizations, law enforcement agency or private investigator to find out when and where you can have your child fingerprinted. With fairs and festivals occurring all summer, opportunities are numerous – and in some cases done without charge – to have your child fingerprinted and photographed.
It is a matter of ensuring your family’s security. You wouldn’t buy a home or vehicle without insuring them, hoping for the best, yet preparing for the worst. Nor should you send your children out into the world without the insurance of proper identifying documents. It is good, safe common sense.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Renee Taylor is a licensed private investigator with The Taylor Company, an investigations and research company based in Warren, BradleyCounty, Arkansas.
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