Missing Children Pilot Project Launched

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro kicked off a pilot project with the Kroger Co. designed to raise awareness of Ohio's missing children.

"The key to recovering these children is to make the community aware that they are out there. This pilot program aims to do that and display timely information on a child gone missing which is a critical factor in the success of an Amber Alert," said Petro.

This test project consists of putting a kiosk with photos of area missing children in a local grocery store near the registers where people will see it as they check out. The goal is to raise awareness in the community. Another feature of the kiosk will be the ability to post information relating to an Amber Alert quickly, which is essential to finding the child within hours of abduction.

There are currently 1,127 missing children in Ohio. The mission of the Attorney General's Missing Children Clearinghouse is to aid in the search for missing children, create public awareness of pertinent issues, and develop and disseminate information in order to educate the public, professionals, and others in the prevention and intervention of missing and abducted children.
KW