Things You Can Do To Help Find Some of These Missing Kids

There is increased attention to young girls in DC that have gone missing.There have been 501 cases since the beginning of the year. The police say the number hasn't increased but, in fact, has decreased, but the force's increased use of social media is drawing attention to these cases.

In years prior, local police forces relied on the mainstream to help them broadcast missing persons cases, in hopes of getting public participation in the search.

But historically, not all cases make it to the news.

It is very smart to use social media but what I am seeing more and more is a dismissive attitude, generally, when it is discovered the missing teen ran away. But that shouldn't matter.

Runaways are prey to child predators, sex traffickers and other unsavory characters out in this big wide and sometimes very cruel world.

When a child is listed as a runaway, they are not provided the same attention as one listed as being kidnapped or missing, The Grio's, George Johnson pens in an opinion piece this week. He notes that the media stops treating the girls with much urgency when they are listed as a runaway, leaving the families of the missing little support to find their loved ones.

Johnson writes that inaction "makes black and brown women easy targets for human sex trafficking, which correlates with the statistics showing that 40.4 percent of victims are black women in comparison to white women (26 percent)."

I believe that we parents, moms, dads, caregivers, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends are all jointly responsible for keeping all of society's children safe because they are one of our most vulnerable populations. Even a sassy teen who talks back, dresses provocatively and is sexually active is a child and can be exploited, and deserves being cared for.

We and individually have an ability to do our part. Collectively, those individual efforts matter.

After witnessing a sex trafficked child perform a sex act on a man as a teen, I want to empower more everyday people. We all can help locate missing and exploited children, if we keep our eyes and ears open and don't shut our mouths when we see something wrong.

Share a photo circulated by police and media when it comes across your social feed.

The more eyes on the missing child, the higher the likelihood someone may see her and report it to authorities.

Study photos and description of child posted.

It only takes a few seconds of your time to look, even if you choose not to share.

Keep the lights on your porch or the front of your home on at night.

If someone happens to escape an capture, they'll run to a place with a light on in hopes the people inside are friendly and may help. Again, it's all of our jobs to protect all of our children.

Follow your intuition.

If your Spidey senses start tingling and you happen to overhear any convo with a child and adult that you suspect may not be related or friendly to the child, watch for other signs of possible exploitation.

Double check parked cars.

When you pass a parked car, be vigilant and alert, look into back seats of vehicles in parking lots. Abusers won't walk around with a victim in fear they'll get caught. They'd leave them in the car. If my friend and I hadn't coincidentally looked in the car as we walked by, we never would have seen what we saw.

Be vigilant.

Take note of suspicious behavior, memorize distinguishable features of any suspected adult and mark down license plates numbers as this will be helpful for law enforcement officials. A tattoo, unique birthmark, odd article of clothing are better than general descriptors like white male, tall, dark hair.

Be alert.

An unkempt child with a decently dressed adult (male or female) may be neglected and/or abused.

Sex trafficking is real.

A well dressed adult male with a young girl who may be inappropriately dressed could be a john and she may be forced into prostitution. Consider this when deciding if you will say something or report it.

Runaways lives matter.

Don't get less concerned when you learn the child is a runaway. So what? A runaway child deserves help too.

Sadly, some parents and caregivers are neglectful as well so calling the authorities on random people may not be cool, but as a friend said, it might be worth it if it means one child's life might be saved.

Also, keep your eyes on your children in public places and if you have children who walk home from school or take public transportation to work, school or activities, reiterate safety rules to them almost daily. They may consider it nagging but your words ringing in their ears constantly works. They did for me. To this day, I still recall my parents' advice

And social media and tips do work to help find missing kids. For example, 16-year old Michigan boy, Cody Page, was recently found thanks to social media.

A link to to an article on The Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Facebook page states:

"Detectives with a cyber crimes unit traced him to the Morongo Basin area thanks to his Facebook use.

In a four-month period, Page used Facebook over 3 million times, Koski said. The cyber crimes unit determined that the provider of the Internet he used was HughesNet, and from that they narrowed down his computer to his father’s house on El Camino Road in Twentynine Palms. Local officials went to the house, but didn’t find Page.

Police began blanketing social media with photos of the 16-year-old, asking locals to keep an eye out. Since Monday, the center’s hotline received more 10 tips that narrowed down the search, Koski said."

Page was a foster kid who ran away, it appears. "The preliminary investigation revealed Page was not the victim of a crime and did not require any type of medical attention. His biological mother was found nearby and is cooperating with detectives."

See, yes we can. Let's do this people!