Act immediately if you believe your child
is missing.
Download the Quick Reference Guide for Families in English or Spanish.
What to Do If Your Child is Missing:
- If your child is missing, search the house checking closets,
piles of laundry, in and under beds, inside large appliances, and
inside vehicles, including trunks—wherever
a child may crawl or hide.
- If you still cannot find your child, immediately
call your local law enforcement agency.
- If your child disappears in a store, notify the store manager or security
office. Then immediately call 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.
- When you call law enforcement, provide your child's name, date of
birth, height, weight, 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.
- 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 (NCMEC) on
our toll-free telephone number: 1-800-THE-LOST
(1-800-843-5678).
Or you can use our Live
Hotline to talk to NCMEC through our website.
Adapted from Just in Case...Missing.
Copyright© 1985, 2004, and 2010 National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (NCMEC). All rights reserved.
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