On May 25, 1979, 6-year-old Etan Patz disappeared in New York. This event gave rise to a missing persons movement, which led to the development of new methods to aid searches, such as photos on milk cartons, in the mid-1980s.
In tribute to the passing of Etan Patz, May 25 was designated International Missing Children’s Day.
This year too, the State Police is participating in a series of initiatives dedicated to this anniversary in order to help young people recognize situations of hardship and prevent the risks associated with episodes of disappearance, underlining the importance of contacting the Police Force .
The Central Anti-Crime Directorate of the State Police provides children and parents with an information leaflet (link) and a bookmark (link), created in collaboration with the Central Directorate for Scientific Police and Cyber Security, distributed by the Police Headquarters in schools and during public events.
Together with the AMBER ALERT Europe Foundation, active on the issues of missing and at-risk children, this year the State Police created the “Check. Reflect. Report… and don’t waste time, call the emergency number 112″ to spread useful advice for parents who experience the trauma of the disappearance of a child. In such delicate moments, knowing which steps to take can make the difference (link to the flowchart). For further information on the campaign, please visit the website https://www.amberalert.eu/check-think-report/it
To get in touch with the State Police, the YOUPOL APP is active, which allows a direct request for assistance to the Operations Rooms of the Police Headquarters, for episodes of gender violence, bullying and drug dealing. The APP can be activated on smartphones, tablets and computers and allows you to transmit messages to the operators of the Operations Rooms, but in no way replaces the emergency numbers (1.1.2. NUE and 113) in case of imminent danger.
To facilitate searches for minors, the Italian website for missing children is available https://it.globalmissingkids.org (also accessible from https://globalmissingkids.org/), managed by the Central Anti-Crime Service of the State Police, which is part of an international network of 31 countries, coordinated by the US ICMEC – International Center for Missing and Exploited Children. For cases of minors whose traces have been lost for a long time, it is also possible to insert age progression images of the disappeared.
Please note that the single European number 116000 is also active – Direct telephone line for missing minors (https://116-000.it/), entrusted by the Ministry of the Interior to the management of the “SOS Il Telefono Azzurro ETS” Foundation.
With this in mind, this morning officials and staff of the Anti-Crime Police Division of the Agrigento Police Headquarters set up an information gazebo in the refreshment area of the “Città dei Templi” shopping centre, in via Fosse Ardeatine, a meeting place for numerous young people from this center, where information material will be distributed and relevant contributions on the topic will be screened.
