MISSING CHILDREN: I.D. MAY BE VITAL LINK, POLICE SAY

Nobody wants to think about it, but it happens. Children are plucked off the street or out of busy shopping centers, sending their parents and law enforcement into a frantic search.

The answer is prevention, police say, teaching children the basics of dealing with strangers. If that doesn't work, the next line of defense is having proper identification for each child -- height and weight statistics along with a current photograph.

The Cape Girardeau Jaycees offered parents such information at Kmart Sunday during their KidCare Photo I.D. event. About 75 children were weighed, measured, photographed and fingerprinted for free by Jaycee volunteers and a community-oriented police officer.

Parents were encouraged to put the information in a safe place should a need for it arise.

The national Jaycees organization sponsored the drive last year, encouraging all chapters to participate. Local club members decided it was worth repeating.

"We're here to do things for the community," Linda LeGrand, a Jaycee district director, said. "This is an area where we can help the kids and parents by taking a preventative measure."

Cape Girardeau parent Dan Scholl found out about the event through his children's day care center. He said his wife insisted the children participate.

"You see on television about children being taken and read about it in the paper," Scholl said. "I don't want that to happen to mine. That is every parent's nightmare."

One of his daughters, Carman, 8, said her parents told her how to deal with a stranger who approaches.

"Take a step back and run away and tell Mom," she said.

Donna Jones of Chaffee brought an 8-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter to the KidCare Photo I.D. event. She was shopping and Kmart and noticed the photos being taken.

"You are always hearing about kids being abducted," Jones said. "You want to do everything you can to help find them."

After watching a television show on the subject, she taught her children to yell, "This isn't my Mommy" if being taken away. If people hear a child merely yell, they may not understand the child is in danger, Jones said.

Ike Hammonds, a community-oriented police officer, said local law enforcement appreciates events like the one conducted Sunday. It allows officers to get a head start on finding children, although there are no open cases of missing children in the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

He said that parents shouldn't only teach their children about strangers -- it may be a relative, friend or neighbor who tries to lure them away.

"Drive it home that it's OK to say no if they are in a situation that makes them uncomfortable," Hammonds said.