A child goes missing every 5 hours in SA

THE recent stats from Missing Children SA revealed that a child goes missing every five hours in South Africa.

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According to the Missing Persons Bureau, in 2013 they recorded 1697 cases of missing children reported to the South African Police Service.

“Our case load increases every year – not necessarily only because more individuals go missing, but also because more people become aware of Missing Children SA and the service we render,” said Missing Children SA.

Between 1 May 2016 and 30 April 2017, 304 adults were reported missing,  167 were found and out of 181 children that were reported missing, 145 were found.

“Therefore, we have an overall success rate of 64 per cent. For the children’s cases alone our success rate is 80 per cent. It is an unfortunate reality that 9 per cent of the children found again, were found deceased.

“Every year we see the success rate decrease – we cannot say for a fact that it is because fewer people are found again, or perhaps because more cases are reported to our organisation.”

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General Safety Tips:

• There is no waiting period for reporting a person missing to the nearest police station.
  • Should you report a person to the police station and the police officer tells you to come back after 24 hours, demand to speak to the station commander. Or, alternatively, contact Missing Children SA and the organisation will intervene and assist wherever possible.
• When reporting a person missing to the police station, the following information will be required along with a recent photograph:
  • Full name of missing person
  • Age of missing person
  • Description of missing person
    • Eye colour
    • Hair colour/style
    • Height
    • Weight
    • Distinctive marks – scars/birthmarks
  • Where was the person last seen
  • Clothes the person was wearing
• We have an informal document that serves as a guideline to parents about what will be needed by SAPS when a child goes missing. We call it the Interim ID Kit. It can be downloaded from our website or send us an e-mail and we will be sure to send you an electronic copy.
• Teach your children the basic safety tips, also available from our website.

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