National Missing Persons Day

National Missing Persons Day

In the US a person goes missing every 90 seconds. On February 3rd of each year, National Missing Persons Day focuses the attention of the country long enough to recognize a missing person.

It might be surprising to learn that every day in the United States, approximately 2,300 people are reported missing. However, anyone making the report, waiting at home for their loved one, or actively looking for them, those numbers no longer surprise.

When such a large part of our lives goes missing it leaves a profound void. It’s not a fillable space. Those who have experienced it, those who report 2,300 missing people per day, know.

Everyone has a friend, mother, sibling, child, neighbor, or coworker they see every day. No one expects to have them mysteriously and with no explanation to disappear from their lives. It’s a challenging thought. One so difficult to contemplate, it makes it hard to attract the attention of those unfamiliar with the missing person to become involved.

It won’t happen to me.

We often think it won’t happen to us. When a person goes missing, it can be an adult as often as it is a child. Women disappear more than men and seniors are at risk, too. Health risks, natural disasters, unplanned circumstances, and of course, those who are taken against their will fall into the list of statistics. They can all apply to us.

According to the 2016 National Crime Information Center’s stastics, there were 88,040 active missing person records.

The families of those who go missing, need the support of neighbors and friends. They need our support to continue the search, to keep getting the word out. At the same time, make a plan for your own family. Make it a priority to take the simple steps to be educated and aware.

Fortunately, in today’s digital world it’s easier than ever. National Missing Persons Day encourages you to be alert, share their names, their pictures, and bring them home to their families.

Missing Person Facts

  1. Approximately 2,300 children are reported missing each day in the United States, that one child every 40 seconds.
  2. Nearly 800,000 people are reported missing every year in the United States.
  3. Despite what you commonly hear on television and in movies, there is no federal mandate that requires law enforcement to wait 24 hours before accepting a report of a missing person.
  4. Since 1984, the NCMEC’s National Hotline has received more than 4.8 million calls.
  5. According to the FBI in 2017, there were 464,324 NCIC entries for missing children.
  6. The first 12-24 hours the most critical in a missing person investigation. For children, the first 3 hours are especially critical as 76% of children abducted by strangers are killed within that time-frame.
  7. Most missing children are abducted by family members.
  8. The AMBER Alert was created in 1996 after the disappearance and murder of 9-year old Amber Hagerman from Arlington, Texas. The Silver Alert is a public notification system to broadcast information about individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other mental disabilities.
  9. In the mid-1980’s milk carton with photographs of missing children were first used to help find missing children.
  10. If a person has been missing for 7-years, they can be legally declared deceased.

 

National Missing Persons Day

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