Time is an abducted child’s worst enemy. Seventy-four percent of abducted children who are murdered are killed within three hours of their abduction. It takes, on the average, two hours for a parent to report a child missing. This gives responders only one hour to get an investigation up and running in an attempt to locate and recover the child alive. Investigating Missing Children Cases: A Guide for First Responders and Investigators provides a solid training guide on missing children investigative techniques, enabling law enforcement professionals to respond confidently with a plan of action that offers the best possible chance for a positive outcome. The book provides law enforcement agencies with the most current information available to guide them through a missing or runaway child dispatch. It is designed to help investigators respond quickly, expeditiously evaluate the situation, conduct an Endangerment Risk Assessment (ERA) of the child, and commence a thorough, organized investigation—starting from the moment the police are contacted. By following the guidelines in this book, those tasked with these cases can make the best possible decisions in the shortest amount of time. The protocols and methodologies presented are based on personal police experience and statistical evidence from research and studies gathered from thousands of runaway and missing children cases. Details on those studies and their findings are provided in the appendix. Time is of the essence in missing children cases. Make every second count.

Affords "parents the critical information, guidance and tools they may need to work with law enforcement agencies to help find their missing child."

There are over 100,000 missing person reports daily throughout the United States. This book [Guide] was written to assist law enforcement agencies, search and rescue personnel in training that is necessary and vital for finding lost or missing people. The Oklahoma Marshal's Association provides valuable information about how to find Missing or lost people, points out certain behaviors, and great search techniques. Some tracking skills are implemented here, but that they are limited due to professional training that is required for advanced tracker education. Numerous case studies have been developed for most of this data. This information will be found very useful for all law enforcement agencies and for those wonderful and skilled few who take every opportunity in rescuing people and saving lives.