For Immediate Release
May 25, 2018
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – FDLE recognizes National Missing Children’s Day today, Friday, May 25, 2018.
President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25 as National Missing Children’s Day in 1983, and the nation observes this day each year to mark the anniversary of the disappearance of Etan Patz from a New York City street on his way to school in 1979.
During 2017, Florida law enforcement agencies received 31,976 reports of missing children, the vast majority of whom were safely recovered.
FDLE supports the efforts of law enforcement to recover missing children year-round with multiple programs, including its statewide AMBER Alerts and Missing Child Alerts.
Since 1999, FDLE has also held an annual Missing Children’s Day event at the Florida Capitol to honor members of law enforcement and the public whose work has been integral to the recovery efforts of missing children in the state, as well as to draw attention to still-missing children who have yet to be recovered. This year’s ceremony is scheduled for September 10, 2018.
Citizens can sign up to receive free AMBER and Missing Child Alerts by following FDLE on Facebook or Twitter or signing up to receive email or text message at
www.missingchildrenalert.com.
KidSmartz (
http://www.kidsmartz.org/) and NetSmartz (
http://www.netsmartz.org) feature interactive, educational programs of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that provide age-appropriate resources to help teach children how to be safer on and offline. The websites include programs designed for children, parents and guardians, educators and law enforcement.
To view safety tips on how to keep your children safe, visit
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/SafetyTips.asp. To learn more about Florida’s AMBER Plan, visit
www.missingchildrenalert.com.
For further information contact:
Gretl Plessinger, Jessica Cary or Jeremy Burns
FDLE Office of Public Information
(850) 410-7001