FBI Charlotte and Safe Kids North Carolina have entered into a new partnership to educate parents about an important child safety tool. The FBI’s Child ID App provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about children so that it is literally right at hand in case of an emergency. If a child disappears, a parent or guardian can show pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot. There is also a special tab on the app to quickly and easily e-mail the information to authorities with a few clicks.

First launched in the fall of 2011, the FBI Child ID App is a proven success. When a 6-year-old boy was abducted in Puerto Rico in October 2012, local media outlets issued conflicting details about the boy. Eager to put out an accurate, detailed description to expedite the search, the FBI in San Juan interviewed the missing boy’s parents and asked about his particulars—name, age, and what he was wearing when he was abducted. An FBI employee pulled out her smartphone and referred to a series of queries on the app that helped guide the agent’s questions and collect more identifying characteristics about the missing boy. The probing prompted the boy’s father to recall a very unique characteristic about one of his son’s front teeth. Shortly thereafter, FBI San Juan issued a detailed press release containing the new information. Within hours, the boy was released by his captors in a busy office park, where a woman who recognized him from the media reports immediately got help. The boy was reunited with his family the same day.

The FBI and Safe Kids NC are committed to helping parents and guardians easily access information provided by government and law enforcement agencies intended to keep children safe. Safe Kids NC is housed within the state’s Department of Insurance and has 41 coalitions in 71 counties. The new partnership will be promoted in a variety of ways, including a full social media campaign and postcards that will be mailed throughout the state.

For more information, visit www.fbi.gov or www.ncsafekids.org.