What to do if a child goes missing


There is NO waiting period for reporting missing children under 18

Contact the Police immediately to report your child missing and provide them with as many informations as possible: your child's name, age, height, weight, medical condition, identification marks, circumstances of disappearance, most visited places, phone number, list of friends, social media accounts, recent photo...
Stay calm and start searching where your child was last seen. Check for dangerous places nearby, f.ex. water areas.

Get your family, friends and neighbours to help you search. 

Keep your phone available for incoming calls so your child can get in touch with you anytime; use another phone to stay in touch with other people. 

Share information through social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc.
Look for clues that may tell you what has happened, including phones, emails, social media, diaries, notes etc. Check phone bills and pay attention to any unfamiliar phone numbers. Go to your child's school and talk to teachers and staff, check your child's desk and locker at school. 

Contact media - newspapers, radio stations and TV

Create flyers and distribute them wherever you can and especially at bus/train/subway stations, stores, malls, gas-stations... Email the flyer to everyone in your address book and ask them to do the same.
Do not publish your personal data such as your home address or phone number on the flyer, but provide the location and phone number of authorities - police station that is in charge of your case. 
Read here Flyer guidelines for reporting a missing child published by Polly Klaas Search Center where you can also download a flyer template. 

Depending on where you live, report your child missing to organisations that may support your searching: 
- report missing child in Europe, call 116-000
- report missing child in USA, call 1-800-843-5678
- report missing child in Canada, call 1-866-543-8477

The majority of missing children are quickly found safe and well



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