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Attorney
General DeWine Honors 690 Missing
Ohio Children
(COLUMBUS,
Ohio) -- One day before National
Missing Children's Day, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine reminded
Ohioans
about the hundreds of children who remain missing in the
state.
Right now, 690 children are missing in Ohio.
Attorney General DeWine attended a balloon launch at Columbus
Preparatory
Academy in honor of National Missing Children's Day, which is observed
on May
25th. Children released 690 balloons representing each
missing child in
Ohio.
"Some of these children have been missing for decades, but the
discovery
of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michele Knight in Cleveland this
month
reminds us that we can't give up hope," said Attorney General
DeWine.
Attorney General DeWine today also released the Ohio Attorney General's
Missing
Children Clearinghouse annual 2012 report. According to
report, a total
of 19,219 reports of missing children were made in 2012. Of those
children,
98.8 percent were recovered safely.
Attorney General DeWine and the National Center for Missing and
Exploited
Children encourage parents to take 25 minutes to talk with their
children about
staying safe.
• Teach children how and when to use 911.
• Walk or drive the route to and from school with children, pointing
out
landmarks and safe places to go if they're being
followed or need
help.
• Remind children it's okay to say no to anything that makes them feel
scared, uncomfortable, or confused.
• Practice "what-if" situations and ask children how they would
respond.
The Missing Children Clearinghouse documented 72 family abductions in
2012 and
12 non-family abductions. There were also 62 attempted
abductions.
Of incidents in which the outcome is known, 53 percent
involved the
children being able to walk or run away with no physical contact
occurring.
A copy of the Attorney General's Missing Children Clearinghouse report
is
available on the Attorney
General's Website.
To view photographs and other information about current missing
children cases
being investigated by Bureau of Criminal Investigation, visitwww.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/missingchildren.
For
more information on how to start the
conversation with children about safety, visitwww.take25.org.
Photos
and video of the balloon launch is
available by emailing jill.delgreco@ohioattorneygeneral.gov.
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