Missing Persons Listed on Website

[Tanea Parmenter]

We are reviewing our policy on missing persons and information and frequency they should be listed on our website. I am finding three areas of concern. I am hoping to get feedback on how your agency handles displaying missing persons in a public format. I have reached out to a few of you, but would like a more comprehensive list. Could anyone share any policies or best practice with me. You can email them directly to [email protected].

I am worried about first identity theft, by posting our missing persons on the webpage, they could possibly have their identity stolen. Especially if we are posting the DOB. Second, I am worried about juveniles and possible traffickers seeing that they are already vulnerable and doing social media searches to find them and possibly lure them. Finally, I am worried about well meaning groups that use our posts to contact families and try to get more information for their websites or social media accounts and possibly victimizing our families further. I can tell you the last two has happened in our state and it is possible the first scenario has as well.

Thank you in advance,
Tanea

[Brian Frost]

You bring up some really great points Tanea! I sent you an email regarding what we do in Montana.

[Nona Best]

Tanea
I read your email and the first thing I thought about it the NCMEC posters that go out. They are posted in a lot of
public places i.e Wal-mart. You could always modify to just age when missing.
I don’t have a space to post missing persons.. if I did I think I would follow NCMEC leads

[Angie Meacham]

In Indiana we have a daily bulletin of all missing people. Here is the link https://www.in.gov/isp/3187.htm

[Lesia Baldwin]

In Alabama, we post missing children/juveniles and adults on our ALEA Missing Persons website. However, we do not display a DOB, just a current age, and the narrative regarding the missing person is very basic; Date last seen, city last seen, agency contact.

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