Technological advances may aid in recovering missing child

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Anthony Jennings
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The feeling of helplessness that a parent suffers when their child goes missing can be overwhelming. Luckily, with the advances in technology, the odds of recovering a lost child can now be place back into the parent's hands. 

Dec. 8-12, at the Eglin Youth Center, parents will have the opportunity to take advantage of the SafeAssured ID program. 

According to many criminal investigators and local law enforcement agencies, the SafeAssured ID program is the most comprehensive child identification solutions in the industry. It is essentially a kit which contains important data that can aid law enforcement recover a missing or abducted child. 

"Okaloosa County has the only systems in this region of Florida," said Staff Sgt. Adrian Gonzales, 96th Security Forces Squadron criminal investigator. "This is a unique thing for this area and I want to bring the opportunity to safe guard a parent's child, free of charge, to Eglin." 

A mini-CD in the kit will document streaming video samples of the child walking, recording vital information of his/her body movements and gestures, which can further help law enforcement to identify an abducted or missing child. 

The CD also will contain digital voice recognition, a digital photograph, private information (general physical description, street address, date of birth, life-threatening medical conditions, identifying scars or marks), all ten digital fingerprints and a prevention tip guide. 

"The information stored on the disk is encrypted, so that if anyone were to obtain it, they wouldn't be able to retrieve any of the information without authorization from the SafeAssured ID organization," said Sergeant Gonzales. 

Sergeant Gonzales also stressed that any measure that can help law enforcement with locating a lost child should be taken; including updating photos, videos, fingerprints and personal information. SafeAssured is one of the best ways to help enhance the search process. 

"This program can also improve the AMBER Alert effectiveness. Rather than just having a still photograph to go on, people now have a broader way of identifying a missing child," the sergeant said. 

An AMBER Alert is a bulletin issued upon the suspected abduction of a child. AMBER is an acronym for "America's Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response," but was originally named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old child who was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas, in 1996. 

"Parents should to take advantage of this opportunity because it's state-of-the-art and can get the vital information out to the media in a matter of moments," said Ashley Bailey, Okaloosa County crime prevention specialist and military spouse. "And when it comes to the abduction of your child, every second counts."