Timing key in finding missing children
Selina
”
Marie
”
Lopez was dressed in gray sweat pants and a sweatshirt the last
night her family saw her. The 15-year-old girl left home Dec. 27 at
11 p.m., according to a police report, and the family believed she
had run away with a boyfriend.
Timing key in finding missing children
Selina “Marie” Lopez was dressed in gray sweat pants and a sweatshirt the last night her family saw her. The 15-year-old girl left home Dec. 27 at 11 p.m., according to a police report, and the family believed she had run away with a boyfriend.
Family members became concerned about the brown-eyed girl with long brown hair several days later when someone called her cell phone and a female voice answered and whispered “mom” and “help.” The family then went to the Hollister Police Department and the law enforcement agency is still following up leads to the girl’s whereabouts with other police departments throughout the region.
“The police are still following leads and conducting an investigation,” said Rosie Betanio, a Hollister Police Officer. “We don’t have anything major at this time.”
For all parents, the key to finding a missing child – whether parents suspect a child has been abducted or ran away from home – is to contact local law enforcement as soon as they suspect something.
“It is common that parents are hesitant to contact law enforcement,” said Cindy Rudometkin, the Response Department director for the Polly Klaas Foundation, a nonprofit agency that works with families while a child is missing. “They want to make sure the kids aren’t at a friend’s house or somewhere else.”
As soon as local police receive a notice of a missing child, they enter the information into the National Crime Information Center – an FBI database that is accessible to all law enforcement agencies in the United States.
A study conducted by the U. S. Department of Justice and released in 2002 found that more than 2,000 children were reported missing each day in the United States.
“Even if a child might be a runaway or might have gone willingly, we assume they are in danger,” Rudometkin said.
In 115 of the most extreme cases – where children were abducted by a stranger who kept them overnight, held them for ransom or planned to kill them, 60 percent of children were returned safely, according to the DOJ.
A fourth of children were abducted by family members – often over custody battles – and more than 98 percent of those children were returned to their families.
Teenagers make up more than half the abductions by non-family members in the United States. Of these children, 99 percent were returned home after a short time, according to the DOJ.
With teenagers it can be especially hard to keep track of their whereabouts, but Rudometkin and Betanio said parents should notify authorities right away even if they believe the child could be a runaway.
“If your child has been missing for 30 seconds, you need to call us,” Betanio said. “Some [parents] are under the impression they need to wait 48 hours to report it and that is incorrect.”
Timing is important in returning the child home safely, Betanio said.
“The sooner we get the information, the closer the person or the child is,” Betanio said.
For older children, police officers ask for information on whom the child’s friends are, addresses and phone numbers as well as details on how the child had been acting before they disappeared. They ask parents to review their online behavior, as well.
“We start by contacting friends,” Betanio said. “Then we call juvenile hall and the hospitals to see if the child has been injured or arrested without the parents’ knowledge.”
Agencies such as the Polly Klaas Foundation offer support to parents while law enforcement is searching for their children.
“Our caseworkers offer support and guidance,” Rudometkin said. “Most parents aren’t equipped to deal with something like this. We can be the calm voice to take them through the steps.”
The agency provides a missing poster template – used by Lopez’ parents for fliers posted around Hollister of the girl – and caseworkers will make the fliers for parents if they provide information on the child.
“The goal is definitely to get kids home as safe as possible,” Rudometkin said.
Of course the best way to keep children safe is to prevent them from going missing in the first place. Fingerprint and DNA kits are something many parents use to feel safer.
“The bottom line is fingerprints and DNA are not going to prevent a child from going missing,” Rudometkin said. “It is a tool you need after they go missing.”
She suggested talking to children, even at a young age, about safety precautions or role-playing what they would do if approached by a stranger. With older children, staying engaged in their lives is important.
“The number one thing is to maintain open and honest communication,” Rudometkin said. “Just knowing what your child is doing and who their friends are – that communication will keep the children most safe.”
Selina “Marie” Lopez is 15 years old, 5 feet 3 inches, and between 140-150 lb. She has brown eyes, long brown hair and an unknown type of tattoo on her lower left abdomen. She was last seen wearing gray Raiders sweat pants and a black Raiders sweatshirt. She has been missing from her Hollister home on Steinbeck Drive since Dec. 27.
Anyone with information on Selina “Marie” Lopez’ location may contact the Hollister Police Department at 636-4330 or by calling 911.
