Though the Snapshot Search project is doing what we can, there are many other ways
you can help to find missing children. Obviously, you can help by joining in search
parties for local missing children, hanging up posters, or donating to foundations
and similar things. However, there are other ways you can help as well.
One very important way is to know who is missing. Take the time to look through the
list of missing children at the
National Center For Missing And Exploited Children,
or for those not living in the United States, the
International Centre For Missing And Exploited Children.
While the lists are long, limiting your search to children missing in your general
area in the past few years and taking a good look at each child could turn out to
make all the difference. If you do think you see a missing child, report it
immediately to 1-800-THE-LOST or your local police station. If you are wrong,
the worst that could happen is someone is annoyed, but if you are right you could
save a child from a lot of suffering and likely even save their life.
Another way to help is to pay attention to your surroundings. You may not recognize
a missing child and a child doesn't have to be missing to be in trouble. If you see
or hear anything suspicious, anything that indicates a child is in trouble call your
local police station immediately. People have missed signs in the past - in the
well-known cases of Shawn Hornbeck and Jaycee Dugard, just to name two, many signs
were missed. Not reporting signs of abuse or suspicious behavior could cause a
child a great deal more suffering or even cause them to lose their life.
Don't go down in history as someone who could have saved a missing child.
Be remembered as someone who did.
Never assume that just because a child has been gone for to long that they are dead,
never give up on them. The previously mentioned Shawn Hornbeck and Jaycee Dugard
along with Elizabeth Smart, Steven Stayner and other lesser-known children have
been found alive after being held long-term by their kidnappers. Jean Paul Lacombe,
Snapshot Search's third main focus child was found alive ten months after being kidnapped
by his abusive father. They can come home. At Snapshot Search,
we believe that it is impossible that the only long-term missing children who were
still out there have been found. There are other children waiting to be found,
help us bring them home.
