When Your Child Is Missing

In an instant, a peaceful day can become a nightmare when a child is discovered missing. Recently, we have witnessed tragic abductions of children of all ages across America-in rural byways and major cities. We have also been heartened by the joyful reunions of children safely returned to their parents. Children may be missing from home for a variety of reasons. They may run away after a heated argument with their parents or be lured away by an online predator in an Internet chatroom. They may be taken by a noncustodial parent to another country- perhaps to strike back at an ex-spouse-or abducted by someone the child does not know. Whatever the reason a child is missing, parents' lives are turned upside down, and minutes race into hours as they frantically seek their child's return to the safety of home. We know that time is of the essence in terms of finding a child. What should parents do if their child is missing?