What to do when your child goes missing

With the holiday season in full swing and crowds increasing in various public places there is sadly an increase in the number of children that are reported missing. While this is any parent or caregiver’s worst nightmare and thinking with a clear mind is something that is highly unlikely to occur – there are a few things that can be done which bust myths about reporting a missing child.

The statistics are shocking – with a child going missing every five hours and the SAPS receiving a total of 1697 cases in 2013 alone.

“One of the first things that a parent or care giver must do is to report that your little one has gone missing. There is no waiting period to report a child – you don’t need to wait 24 hours in order to report a missing child. The sooner you report that the child is missing, the better,” says Cartrack’s Marketing and Communication Manager, Jacqui Marsh.

“To report a missing child one needs to go to your nearest South African Police Station and complete a SAPS 55 form. This is a very traumatic time so we also suggest going with another individual, who may be able to assist you with the completion of the form as well as perhaps driving you there and assisting you to follow procedures in order to assist with locating your child,” adds Jacqui.

Additional information that parents need to have with them when reporting a missing child is what the child was last wearing, a picture of the child and where the child went missing.

“These may all seem like obvious things that parents need to take into consideration but when the situation arises it may be the last thing that is thought of.

Cartrack has joined the fight to reunite our country’s missing children with their loved ones by supporting Missing Children SA, to help recover these precious ones. “We are encouraging the public to get involved with the campaign to help reunite missing children with their families, by following Cartrack on Facebook and sharing the missing posts,” concludes Jacqui.

For more information about how to assist Missing SA, click here.

Read more:

• Police: reports of missing children increasing