“Phone alerts help find missing boy”

Posted: 25 Oct 2010 03:47 PM PDT

Updated: Monday, 25 Oct 2010, 6:30 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 25 Oct 2010, 6:30 PM EDT

LOCKPORT, N.Y. (RELEASE) - On Tuesday, October 19th, the Niagara County Sheriff's Office and New York State Police began a search for a 12-year-old male who had gone missing from his home.

An extensive search was conducted in the area of the Woodlands Manufactured Home Community and surrounding areas. The A Child Is Missing Alert Program was activated and the juvenile was located within 12 minutes of the activation. 1,712 calls were attempted to residences in the area and 1,074 residents answered. The search ended with a response to one of the alert phone calls that had been placed to the area by the A Child Is Missing Alert Program based in Florida.

A free service to law enforcement, A Child Is Missing is a nationwide Alert Program with technicians on call 24/7, 365 who utilize sophisticated mapping systems and satellite imagery input into a system with the capacity to place 1,000 alert phone calls in 60 seconds to the area where a missing person was last seen or is believed to be. If you are a resident of Lockport and you did not receive an alert call, you can register your unpublished, cell phone, or broadband/voice-over IP number at www.achildismissing.org . Click on "add your name" and follow the simple steps to enter your number which will only be used for emergency alert calls.

Upon taking the report, Niagara County Sheriff's Office called the toll free number for the A Child Is Missing Alert Program, provided key information to the technician, and, shortly after, the Town of Lockport area was ringing with calls requesting those in the area to check their yards and complexes for the missing boy. The Niagara County Sheriff's Office received a call that led them and NYSP to the location of the boy in the Woodlands Manufactured Home complex in the Town of Lockport.

"The great news is this young boy was returned safely to his father within 12 minutes of the "Child is Missing" activation. The good news is valuable resources which cost a lot of money did not have to be used" stated Sheriff James R. Voutour.

A Child Is Missing is a nationwide non-profit organization that helps law enforcement agencies locate missing children, missing elderly (often suffering from Alzheimer's), college students on campus, and missing persons who are mentally or physically challenged. A Child Is Missing utilizes sophisticated computer mapping systems and trained technicians with the capacity to place 1,000 alert phone calls in minutes to residents and businesses in the area where someone has gone missing or is believed to be. To date the efforts of A Child Is Missing have been credited by law enforcement with more than 790 safe assisted recoveries. Visit www.achildismissing.org .

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