It's every parent's nightmare: a missing child. The mere thought crushes my soul as I think of the fear and emptiness that parents of missing children are experiencing. We went to the database at National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to see the latest on the missing children of Idaho. It's my genuine hope that sharing these will raise awareness and hopefully assist in the search efforts for these children.

According to their website, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was founded as a non-profit over 37 years ago by John and Revé Walsh. They add that they've taken more than 5 million calls and have assisted in locating more than 367,000 children.

It's truly incredible but also horrifying -- how many of these children have not been found? It's a scary thought but we can all try and do our part. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children even has a program that can prove useful for parents. It's called "KidSmartz" and they utilize various methods to teach what they call are the "4 Rules of Personal Safety." It looks like a fun and kid-friendly way to help teach your children the importance of preventing abduction by practicing "safer behaviors."

They do provide a "Do's and Don't" list that would be a great start to teaching your little ones how to stay safe:

List of Don'ts:

  • Talk to strangers
  • Hang around people you don't know
  • Assume someone is safe to be around based on their appearance

You can look at the full program and more of their lessons here.

Since we last shared a list of missing children, there have been a few changes.

2023 Updates On The Missing Children in Idaho

These children are missing and could be in the Idaho area according to MissingKids.org. Have you seen any of these children?

Gallery Credit: Chris Cardenas

Why Keep Your Kids Away From Merry-Go-Rounds on Sundays

Gallery Credit: Hannah Shippen, Townsquare Media

Free Education Fun for Boise Kids

Gallery Credit: Hannah Shippen, Townsquare Media

The Safest Towns in Idaho in 2021

SafeWise is back with their 2021 Safest Cities reports. How did the Treasure Valley stack up when it came to the rankings that accounted for population, income, violent crime and property crime rates? Here's a look at the Top 10 safest cities and where our area ranked in the entire study.

Gallery Credit: Michelle Heart

 

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