FBI Albuquerque
Office of Public Affairs
(505) 889-1300
May 25, 2017

Albuquerque FBI Division Observes National Missing Children’s Day

To commemorate National Missing Children’s Day, May 25, 2017, the Albuquerque FBI Field Office remembers Anthonette Cayedito, who was last seen inside her family’s residence in Gallup, New Mexico, on April 6, 1986.

Details of the case and a poster can be found at: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/anthonette-christine-cayedito

If you have any information regarding Anthonette or another missing child, please call the FBI at 505-889-1300, your local police department, or call 9-1-1. Tips may also be submitted to the FBI through tips.fbi.gov.

Information regarding other missing children can be found on the FBI’s website at: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap.

“The FBI is fully committed to support our law enforcement partners investigating missing and endangered children,” said Terry Wade, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Division. “These missing kids, as well as their parents and relatives, deserve our unceasing efforts.”

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25 as National Missing Children’s Day. Each year, the Department of Justice commemorates Missing Children’s Day with a ceremony honoring the heroic and exemplary efforts of agencies, organizations, and individuals to protect children.

Missing Children’s Day is dedicated to encouraging parents, guardians, caregivers, and others concerned with the well-being of children to make child safety a priority. It serves as a reminder to continue our efforts to reunite missing children with their families and an occasion to honor those dedicated to this noble cause. More information can be found at: https://www.ojjdp.gov/missingchildrensday/.

In 1932, the FBI was given jurisdiction under the “Lindbergh Law” to immediately investigate any reported mysterious disappearance or kidnapping involving a child of “tender age”—usually 12 or younger. However, the FBI can become involved with any missing child under the age of 18 as an assisting agency to the local police department. There does not have to be a ransom demand, and the child does not have to cross the state lines or be missing for 24 hours.

Research indicates the quicker the reporting of the disappearance or abduction, the more likely the successful outcome in returning the child unharmed.