National Missing Childrens Day - May 25

© Hartson Dowd

Between 1979 and 1981 a series of high-profile missing-children
cases became national headlines. Three such cases contributed
to the shock of the nation’s consciousness bringing attention
to the seriousness of child victimization and forever changing
the response by law-enforcement agencies to reports of missing
children.

On May 25, 1979, Etan Patz disappeared from a New York City
street on his way to school. Even before cases of missing
children routinely garnered national media attention, Etan’s
case quickly received a lot of coverage. His father, a
professional photographer, disseminated black-and-white
photographs of Etan in an effort to find him. The massive
search and media attention that followed focused the nation’s
attention on the problem of child abduction and lack of plans
to address it.

For almost three years national media attention was focused on
Atlanta, Georgia, where the bodies of young boys and girls
were discovered in lakes, marshes, and ponds along roadside
trails. By the time a suspect was arrested and identified in
1981, 29 bodies were recovered. The suspect was apprehended,
convicted, and now serves a life sentence in prison.
On July 27, 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a
Florida shopping mall. His parents, John and Revé Walsh,
immediately turned to law-enforcement agencies to help find
their son. To their disappointment, there was no coordinated
effort among law enforcement to search for Adam on a state or
national level, and no organization to help them in their
desperation.

The tragedies of these children and others exposed a fundamental
flaw. There was no coordinated effort between federal, state,
and local law enforcement; no national response system in place;
and no central resource to help searching families. When it came
to handling missing-children cases, the United States was a
nation of 50 states often acting like 50 separate countries.

The momentum that began with the disappearance of Etan, Adam,
and the 29 missing and murdered children of Atlanta led to
photographs of missing children on milk cartons and, ultimately,
a nationwide movement. In 1983 President Ronald Regan
proclaimed May 25 National Missing Children’s Day. Each
administration since has honored this annual reminder to the
nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children with their
families and make child protection a national priority. National
Missing Children’s Day is a reminder to all parents and
guardians of the need for high-quality photographs of their
children for use in case of an emergency, and for the need for
everyone to pay close attention to the posters and photographs
of missing children.

May 25th is National Missing Children's Day. It is a special
day, a day of renewed hope, a day to remember. Although the
passing of time can cause these tragic events to become distant
in our minds we must not forget our missing children.

Hartson Dowd