Lt. Col. Michael E. Blow, PGCPD

Published on: Tuesday, December 15, 2009

By Nancy Royden

This is Part 2 and the final article in  a series on missing and endangered children.

Many of the people who investigate cases of young runaways are parents themselves – and they feel empathy toward the families they assist, said a local deputy police chief.

“We’re all parents or uncles or aunts of children. When a child is missing, we feel their pain,” Lt. Col. Michael E. Blow, of the Prince George’s Police Department, said.

Blow said if a child is reported missing to police, officers go through a lengthy list of things regarding the runaway or missing child to collect information.

“We ask if they broke up with their first true love. Between the ages of 12 and 16, there’s a laundry list of things. Was he or she being teased at school? Was he or she experimenting with sex? Was there peer pressure? There are a powder keg of things,” he said.

Blow said there are plenty of things parents can do to prevent their children from running away from home, but the reasons they might do so may not be easy to pinpoint.

“Let’s get to the problem,” he said. “We want to know if they talk with their friends and coaches. We talk with people about whether they are a friend or foe,” he said.

Blow, who oversees patrol services for the police department, said parents should be as involved in their children’s lives as much as possible.

“We emphasize that they be involved in that young child’s life. You should know whom your child is interacting with. Participate in the PTA, know who the friends are and promote a very responsible home environment,” he said.

If a child should be missing from the home, knowing where they spend time could definitely become very important.

“It’s always good to know the hangouts. At least you know the places to start [looking],” he said.

Blow said if a child is becoming withdrawn, unruly or there are drastic behavior changes, this might be an indication they need extra attention.

“Don’t be too proud to seek outside services for your child,” he said.

Keeping children involved in positive experiences can help build self-esteem and make them feel part of a community. For instance, the PGCPD has a mentoring program, Explorers for career exploration, an athletic league for young people and a leadership academy, Blow said.

There are so many church, sports, career-oriented groups and other activities to help keep young people busy and feel like they belong, he said.

“Be involved. Be frequent flyers at the schools. Be involved in Boy Scouts and other groups. Find out about their e-mails and the Web sites that are being hit. Be a nosey parent. Be a nosey and engaged parent,” he said.

If a child is missing, important information is entered into records of the National Crime Information Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The information can help investigators from all police agencies in different parts of the country locate missing people, Blow said.

“The goal is, let’s find that young person and let’s get them to their families or to a safe environment,” he said.

All parents and guardians should take advantage of having their children fingerprinted, Blow said.

According to McGruff the Crime Dog Safety & Crime Prevention Products, the McGruff Safe Kids ID Kit is the only fingerprint/child safety program supported by the National Crime Prevention Council.

It includes a personal record card with child-safe fingerprint ink and information about Internet safety tips, anti-bullying strategies, social networking guidelines and home security tips.

Blow said there should always be an updated photo of each child who lives in the home as well.

Having a current photo of a child can make it easier for investigators and others to identify him or her in missing person cases, he said.

“All of our missing person cases are serious to us,” Blow said.

MARYLAND MISSING PERSONS NETWORK

Kylen Johnson of the Maryland Missing Persons Network said photographs offer a tremendous ability to help locate people, and offered tips to possibly help solve missing person cases.

“Take a weekly glance at the missing children in the state. One in six children are found by people viewing missing person fliers,” she said, and urged people to go to the Web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find photographs of people who are sought, at www.missingkids.com.

MMPN adds cases to its database after they have been filed with a law enforcement agency. Its volunteer staff will not add profiles of lost loves, deadbeat parents, missing classmates and children involved in child custody battles, according to the group’s Web site. The group’s Web site is: www.MarylandMissing.com, and it includes information about unidentified children and adults, forensic dentistry, forensic arts, links and memoirs.

There is a warning on the group’s Web site that the photos may be shocking to some people. With an article written by Johnson and Eileen Bennett, is a photograph of a woman known as “Jane Doe.” The authors urge people to offer police information that might help solve the mysteries surrounding the life and death of the unnamed woman.

“If we can’t identify the killers, at the very least, we can identify the victims,” they implore.

The group’s policy does not permit the addition of missing children until they have been missing for 30 days unless a parent requests it, it is an AMBER Alert, or involves a critically missing child situation.

“We have a network of family and friends with missing loved ones available to support, give resources or search for any missing person in the state,” she said.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports a special program named in memory of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, the AMBER Alert has helped in the recovery of nearly 500 children.