A mom of three has shared her advice for locating missing kids in public places, urging other parents to “look loudly” if their child is nowhere to be found.
Never “silently look” for your kids, said Jessica. Instead, enlist the eyes and ears of the people around you.
“If you’re at an amusement park, zoo, mall, whatever it is, and you look around and your child is no longer with you, what you want to do is you want to start loudly looking for them,” Jessica said.
“What I mean by that is you start shouting their description while you look,” she said.
“It’s going to sound like this: ‘I’m looking for a boy, aged five, short brown hair, brown eyes, caucasian, red Nike T-shirt, black shorts ...’”
Repeat the description while looking, and everyone in the vicinity will become a part of the search party, Jessica advised. In the best-case scenario, someone will locate and return the child. In the worst-case scenario, an abductor will likely be deterred by the commotion and let the child go.
It’s better to “look stupid” than to be sorry, Jessica concluded. The life-saving parenting video quickly went viral, with many parents expressing their gratitude for the outspoken mom’s sterling advice.
Take a photo of your child before leaving the house to help others know who to look for, she added, and, if in a store, alert an employee.
“It’s called a ‘Code Adam,’” she said. “They will shut down the store; all those places have protocols to help you find missing children.”
Finally, the mom of three advocated writing a contact phone number on a child’s arm in Sharpie before leaving the house for a crowded place.
Thanks to Jessica’s advice, an Australian mom whose son disappeared on a shopping trip to Kmart in January recovered her little boy within minutes. The Aussie mom had seen her video and remembered what to do. She began to describe her 2-year-old son as dressed in a yellow shirt with brown hair, while her friend alerted Kmart employees to guard the store’s exit.
Turning an aisle, the mom heard the magical words, “He’s here!” A shopper had recognized her description and noticed the little boy as he wandered past.
“So to all parents out there, if your child goes missing, do not search in silence ... Shout out loud and clear. Say that they’re missing, give a description, and repeat, repeat, repeat!”
