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AcknowledgmentsThe National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) acknowledges the contributions of the individuals noted below in the design, development, and presentation of theformer Basic Investigative Techniques - Missing and Abducted Children training program and itssubsequent adaptation into this guide. The combined experience, skill, and expertise of thesespecialists along with the suggestions, modifications, and additions provided by our expertreviewers has led to the creation of a comprehensive resource document for all professionalswho are involved in the search for missing children.Principal Authors of This EditionPreston FindlayCounselMissing Children DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaDetective Charles MasinoMissing Persons Unit (Retired)Phoenix (Arizona) Police DepartmentNCMEC Team Adam ConsultantNewport Center, VermontEliza HarrellFormer Case ManagerMissing Children DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaHugh MunnFormer Public Information DirectorSouth Carolina Law Enforcement DivisionPublic Relations FacultyUniversity of South Carolina School ofJournalism and Mass CommunicationsColumbia, South CarolinaMaureen HeadsSupervisory Case ManagerNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaRobert HoeverAssistant Bureau Chief, ChildProtection Bureau (Retired)New Jersey State PoliceAssociate Director, Special ProjectsMissing Children DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaRobert G. Lowery, Jr.Executive DirectorMissing Children DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaLee ManningLieutenant (Retired)Massachusetts State PoliceNCMEC Team Adam ConsultantAlexandria, VirginiaRon OliveNaval Criminal Investigative Service (Retired)NCMEC Team Adam ConsultantSurprise, ArizonaDetective Lee ReedYouth DivisionAbilene Police DepartmentNCMEC Team Adam ConsultantAbilene, TexasHenry SchmidtUndersheriff (Retired)Sublette County (Wyoming) Sheriff’s OfficeNCMEC Team Adam ConsultantAlexandria, VirginiaH. Wayne SheppardPennsylvania State Police (Retired)Team Adam SupervisorNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaMissing and Abducted Children - ix

Thomas G. Sirkel Jr.Lieutenant (Retired)Los Angeles County (California) Sheriff’s OfficeAssociate Director of Training and OutreachNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaThomas B. SmithLieutenant (Retired)Special Victims BureauCollier County (Florida)Sheriff’s DepartmentNaples, FloridaStephen E. SteidelSuffolk County (New York) Police Department (Retired)Associate Director of Training and Outreach (Retired)NCMECAlexandria, VirginiaContributors and Reviewers of This EditionKristen AndersonDirector of TrainingNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaTerri DelaneyDirector of PublicationsNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaAngela AufmuthSupervisorSex Offender Tracking Team Case Analysis UnitNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaBen ErminiYonkers (New York) PoliceDepartment (Retired)Executive Director of CaseOperations (Retired)NCMECAlexandria, VirginiaPeter D. BanksMetropolitan (DC) PoliceDepartment (Retired)Director of Training (Retired)NCMECAlexandria, VirginiaFrank ConnerSenior InspectorSex Offender Investigation BranchU.S. Marshals ServiceAlexandria, VirginiaDavid CudmoreSpecial AgentWeapons of Mass Destruction CoordinatorKansas City Joint Terrorism Task ForceFederal Bureau of InvestigationKansas City, MissouriPatti DavisSenior WriterNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaErin FitzgeraldPublications SpecialistNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaBud GaylordExecutive DirectorCase Analysis DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaMarsha Gilmer-TullisDirectorFamily Advocacy DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaCraig E. HillDeputy Chief of Police (Retired)Leawood (Kansas) Police DepartmentAssociate Director of Training and OutreachNCMECAlexandria, Virginiax - Missing and Abducted Children

Linda KriegFormer Section Chief, InternalInvestigations SectionFederal Bureau of InvestigationAssistant Executive Vice PresidentNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaNancy McBrideNational Safety DirectorNCMECLake Park, FloridaMolly McMinnInspectorU.S. Postal Inspection ServiceAlexandria, VirginiaJanice MertzSupervisory Special AgentFederal Bureau of InvestigationAlexandria, VirginiaChristina MilesPublications SpecialistNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaCathy NahirnySenior Analyst, InfantAbduction CasesNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaJohn B. Rabun, Jr., ACSWFormer ManagerLouisville/Jefferson County (Kentucky)Exploited and Missing Child UnitExecutive Vice President and ChiefOperating OfficerNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaRobin SanfordNCIC AnalystCase Analysis DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaMelinda StevensDirectorMissing Children DivisionNCMECAlexandria, VirginiaEric TrestSpecial AgentNaval Criminal Investigative ServiceMilitary Criminal Investigative OrganizationRepresentative to NCMECAlexandria, VirginiaThanks also to the many individuals, both from within NCMEC and associated agencies andorganizations, who assisted with prior editions of this guide and those who are always willingto share their experience, knowledge, and ideas to help ensure this guide contains the mostmeaningful and accurate information possible.Missing and Abducted Children - xi

LetterDear Friends In Law Enforcement:Congratulations on receiving this fourth edition of Missing and Abducted Children: A LawEnforcement Guide to Case Investigation and Program Management. We are proud the U.S. Departmentof Justice was part of the development of this important guide to assist law enforcement ininvestigating missing- and abducted-children cases. The partnership between the Office of JuvenileJustice and Delinquency Prevention within the U.S. Department of Justice and National Centerfor Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) allows us to provide key resources in your searchfor missing and abducted children. We commend the work you do to serve and protect familiesin your jurisdiction and hope you will call on us to help in these cases.In the words of Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., as stated to those assembled at theU.S. Department of Justice’s National Missing Children’s Day Ceremony on May 25, 2010, inWashington, DCSo many of you help to lead this work — both the award recipients we honor today,as well as the unsung heroes who work, day in and day out, to recover missing childrenand bring families back together. Many of the advocates here in this Great Hall haveturned tragedy in their own homes into a commitment, and opportunity, to help others.Many of the officers have found ways to fuse cutting-edge technologies with traditionalmethods of law enforcement and recovery — harnessing the Internet in new wayswhile never losing sight of the value of knocking on doors and tacking up postersacross town. And all of you have been strong, empathetic, and utterly determined inthe face of devastating circumstances and difficult odds . [S]upporting and advancing this work is, and will continue to be, a top priorityfor the Department of Justice. Before the media, before the experts, before anyoneelse, families in crisis turn — first — to law enforcement. In these officers, desperateparents, grandparents, and guardians place their trust, as well as their hopes of seeingtheir missing children again. It’s an extraordinary responsibility — one that our lawenforcement community meets with great speed, compassion, and determination.1NCMEC is proud to join the U.S. Department of Justice and all law-enforcement agenciesin this extraordinary work. You have the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’severy wish for continued success in helping child victims and their families.Sincerely,Ernest E. AllenPresident and Chief Executive OfficerNational Center for Missing & Exploited ChildrenAttorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the National Missing Children’s Day Ceremony. Washington, DC: U.S.Department of Justice, May 25, 2010, accessed on September 19, 2011, at html.1Missing and Abducted Children - xiii

ForewordIn the summer of 1981 my 6-year-old son Adam was abducted from a Florida shopping malland found murdered two weeks later. His death focused national attention on the tragic andfrustrating search faced by families of missing children each year. Adam’s mother, Revé, andI have since traveled all across this country as advocates requesting more law-enforcementresources to assist in this search process. One major achievement in this campaign was thecreation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 1984.Since its creation NCMEC has worked closely with many officers and investigators fromthis nation’s thousands of law-enforcement agencies in the search for missing, abducted, andsexually exploited children. This partnership has emerged into a vast network of investigativeresources available to law enforcement that might otherwise be inaccessible.These resources include technical assistance in cases of missing and exploited childrenprovided by former law-enforcement and social-service professionals with expertise in thisfield; a 24-hour, toll-free Hotline to receive reports and sightings of missing children with allleads immediately forwarded to the law-enforcement agency handling the investigation; aworldwide CyberTipline for online reporting of the sexual exploitation of children; nationwidedistribution of photos of and descriptions about missing children; preparation of age-enhancedphotos of long-term missing children; and analysis of case information and leads — all providedfree-of-charge from NCMEC’s office in Alexandria, Virginia. As a result of this network, morecomplex cases have been resolved, more children have been recovered, and more searchingfamilies have been reunited with their children.This guide, Missing and Abducted Children: A Law-Enforcement Guide to Case Investigation andProgram Management, is another resource in NCMEC’s continuing commitment to assist lawenforcement in the search for missing children. Its two goals are to provide Officers with step-by-step information about how to respond to and investigate missingchild cases Administrators with the programmatic framework to manage the missing-child responsewithin their agency’s jurisdictionIn addition this guide is a means to facilitate the development of the specialized skills neededto effectively respond to a missing-child case and provide awareness of the many availableresources. Individual chapters offer information about topics ranging from an issue perspective to specific investigative techniques to be used in all phases of any type of missing-childcase to investigative considerations and resources for conducting searches, working with themedia, and assessing a law-enforcement agency’s current operational policies and proceduresrelated to these cases.The format employed in this guide was chosen to serve as both a quick “how-to” andresource for those wanting a more in-depth treatment of the issue. In addition to a detailedtable of contents and index, each chapter begins with a tabbed divider and quick reference tohighlight key topics presented within it.This guide builds on NCMEC’s more than 27 years of experience in this field. Every efforthas been made to preserve the integrity and thoroughness of this guide. Much of the successof NCMEC training presentations comes from the distribution of many booklets, pamphlets,lists, and other handout materials accompanying each topic. Whenever possible the materialcontained in these handouts has been incorporated into the applicable section of this guide.When such inclusion is inappropriate, reference is made to the item and information providedabout how it may be obtained. Great care was taken to help ensure readers are able to accessall sources of information referenced in this guide. In case a source or reference cited cannotbe accessed from the information provided, call NCMEC’s Missing Children Division tollfree at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) to request assistance in securing that information.Missing and Abducted Children - xv

Revé and I hope the material presented in this guide will prove helpful when performingyour important duties in the area of child protection. We welcome your comments about thispublication and look forward to any suggestions for future editions.Before you begin reading this guide, however, allow me to share some of NCMEC’ssuccesses with you. Revé and I continue to reflect on the number of families and professionalsNCMEC has already been able to help. Through December 2010 NCMEC has Received more than 2.4 million calls on its toll-free Hotline from people requesting assistancein cases of missing and sexually exploited children, reporting the sighting of a missingchild or the sexual exploitation of a child, and requesting general information about theissue and safety tips to help better safeguard their families.2 Assisted law enforcement and families in the recovery of more than 160,400 children.3 Distributed thousands of photos nationally of the individual missing children reported toNCMEC. NCMEC’s current recovery rate is 97.5%.4 Implemented a unit to age-enhance the photos of long-term missing children. Printed more than 47.3 million copies of various publications for professionals offeringassistance with these cases and families about how to help prevent these crimes.5 Trained more than 286,500 law-enforcement, criminal/juvenile-justice, and healthcareprofessionals in the United States and many other countries in child-sexual-exploitationand missing-child-case detection, identification, investigation, and prevention.6We are grateful to the dedicated law-enforcement officers who work these challenging andemotionally draining cases. We know one of the best ways to further our goal of bringing aboutthe swift and safe recovery of every missing child is to respond to the needs of law-enforcementagencies and individual officers who are on the “front line” of child protection. Thus, do nothesitate to call on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and use the manyother resources listed in this guide to assist in your efforts to help each and every family of amissing child within your jurisdiction. Remember, working together we are able to provideeven greater protection to those who are least able to protect themselves — our children.John WalshChild Advocate, Member NCMEC’s National Advisory Board, andHost of “America’s Most Wanted”John B. Rabun, Jr. NCMEC Quarterly Progress Report, January 26, 2011. Alexandria, Virginia: National Centerfor Missing & Exploited Children, page 5 [hereafter QPR].3Id., page 8.4Id., page 6.5Id., page 63.6Id., page 47.2xvi - Missing and Abducted Children

An Issue Perspectiveby Stephen E. Steidel and Preston FindlayQuick ReferenceHistorical Overview.3The Numbers.11Significant Trends, Projects, and Programs.14Missing and Abducted Children - 1

The investigative techniques, available resources, and management optionsaddressed in this guide reflect the progression of historical developments in theissues involving missing and sexually exploited children. It is important, therefore,to review the major developments bringing the issue to its current status. Familiarity with the many missing-children initiatives occurring in the past, especiallywithin the last three decades, along with an understanding of how those issueshelped shape public opinion, influence government reaction, and transform lawenforcement response, will help investigators and planners anticipate trends andidentify programs permitting law enforcement’s response to be on the leading edgeof the missing children’s issue — now and in the future.Historical OverviewHistorically children in obvious and immediate danger have generally struck aresponsive chord with law enforcement. Law enforcement has unquestioninglyperceived the need to immediately respond when a young child is abducted ormissing. The perception of law-enforcement responsibilities in cases involvingthe runaway child or the abduction of a child by a noncustodial family member,however, has not been as clear. This is especially true in the case of a missing childwhen there is no investigative explanation for the situation.In the past the runaway child, especially the older teen, was viewed as a socialproblem best handled by families, teachers, or social-service professionals. Suchattitudes resulted in law-enforcement practices including refusal to take reports,imposition of waiting periods, reluctance to send out notifications, inability orfailure to enter cases in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system,low investigative priority, and the placement of recovered runaways in securedetention facilities until they could be reunited with their families or assisted bysocial-service agencies.Likewise the criminal-justice system’s response to family-abduction cases wasone of confusion concerning what actions were authorized when a child’s custodywas in question. Because there were few criminal statutes before the late 1970saddressing family-abduction issues, there was no requirement then for officiallaw-enforcement involvement in those situations. During that time, when officersresponded to calls initially thought to be domestic disturbances but later determinedto be custody arguments with each party displaying conflicting court documents,the most common law-enforcement action was to refer all parties to the appropriate civil court for settlement. Seldom was there any effort to assure the immediatewelfare of the often-traumatized child who was caught in the crossfire betweenopposing family members.Today many law-enforcement professionals have come to recognize all missingchildren, regardless of the reason they are missing, may be at-risk of violence,victimization, and exploitation. As a result agency administrators across the nationare evaluating their de

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Public Relations Faculty University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications Columbia, South Carolina Ron Olive Naval Criminal Investigative Service (Retired) NCMEC Team Adam Consultant Surprise, Arizona Detective Lee Reed