Jackson Optimist Club distributing child ID kits

It's every parent's worst nightmare: a missing child.

But it happens -- every 40 seconds in the United States a child is abducted or runs away, according to officials with the National Child Identification Program.

The Jackson Optimist Club joined in the NCIDP's efforts to distribute free child identification kits to parents nationwide and are currently handing out ID kits to students in the Jackson School District and St. Paul Lutheran and Immaculate Conception schools in Jackson.

"Your kids aren't safe anywhere anymore," said Penny Leirer of Jackson. "These kits are extremely important."

Leirer is one of many local parents to take advantage of the free identification kits program.

"My kids are at an age where I don't have my eye on them at all times," Leirer said. "That's why I feel it's important for older kids to have this done too."

She speaks from experience. When Leirer's daughter, Sammy, was 4 years old, she and a friend disappeared from a neighbor's back yard.

The frantic parents called the police, who immediately began to search the area. The two girls were eventually returned by another neighbor, who found them walking down the road to a relative's house across town.

It's a story that Leirer and her daughter, now 13, laugh about today.

2,000 more kits

In the past two years, there have been 174 missing child reports, which include runaways and abductions, filed in Cape Girardeau.

Over the same period in Jackson, there have been 26 reports of runaway children, three reports of lost children, one kidnapping and eight reports of a missing child, all of whom have been recovered according to the Jackson Police Department.

So far, the Jackson Optimist Club has distributed around 500 identification kits to Jackson parents. According to member John Strickland, the club has about 2,000 more to give away.

"The whole purpose of our organization is to help kids," Strickland said. "We felt the need and want in the community for this, and it's gone over well."

Strickland said this is the first year for the Optimist Club to distribute the kits, but they hope to make it an annual event.

Each kit includes an ID card with sections for recording a child's physical description and medical history and space for a current photograph. The kit also has fingerprinting material. Children dip their fingertips in a clear liquid and press them to the paper. Black fingerprints appear later.

"They're an insurance policy," said Mike Rice Jr. of Jackson, who used the kits to fingerprint his two children. "You hope you never have to use it, but in case everything goes wrong, you still have something to help you."

As a former police officer, Rice said he feels the kits are helpful in cases where a child has been abducted and returned in another part of the country where authorities might not know he or she is missing.

"But, really, when it comes to finding a live child, they aren't all that helpful," Rice said. "As far as identifying a body, they're fantastic. The last thing you want is for a parent to have to identify their child's body."

Best tool a current photo

According to Child Watch, a nationwide nonprofit missing children's organization, only 2 percent of parents have their children fingerprinted or keep a current photo in case of an emergency.

"The No. 1 tool for finding a missing child is a current photo," said Child Watch operations director Jeff Griesmer.

Child Watch formed in 1992 to help prevent abductions through the Kidguard safety program, which distributes free photo identification cards and fingerprint kits for parents.

Griesmer said he's not aware of any real statistics on how often the identification kits lead to the recovery of a missing child.

Child Watch is in the first stages of launching a new program that would distribute DNA kits to parents. Parents swab the inside of their children's mouths with a cotton ball and then apply the saliva onto a special paper. Griesmer said the sample lasts up to seven years.

Patrolman Jason Selzer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department said he believes the DNA kits show promise as a tool for finding missing children.

"It's proven technology, and it gives you more to go on than a fingerprint," Selzer said.

Selzer said in the seven years he's been with the Cape Girardeau police, no missing-child cases have been solved through the fingerprint kits.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128