Missing Persons

The N.C. Center for Missing Persons serves as the clearinghouse for information regarding missing children and adults and is charged with issuing AMBER Alerts and Silver Alerts. Since its creation in 1985, the Center has worked with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to locate missing persons and reunite them with their families. North Carolina is one of the few states with a clearinghouse for missing adults as well as children.

Each year, more than 10,000 people are reported missing to the N.C. Center for Missing Persons. The problems of non-custodial abductions, runaways, stranger abductions, and missing adults transcend socio-economic, racial and ethnic boundaries. Reasons for these disappearances may include problems at home, health or mental issues, snags with the law, or a taste for adventure. Most eventually return or are found by law enforcement officers and do not involve foul play. Many adults who disappear don't want to be found, or they may have other problems such as memory loss, mental illness, or a history of drug use or alcoholism.

The Center plays a key role in solving both missing children and missing adult cases by providing police and sheriff's departments with technical assistance and serving as liaison between states and various governmental agencies. Staff at the Center for Missing Persons maintain an extensive computer database of information on the varied aspects of missing children and adults in North Carolina. The database also allows staff to cross reference descriptors to retrieve possible matches in unidentified person cases.

The Center maintains a nationwide, toll-free telephone number that is available 24 hours a day with a staff member always on call. Families or law enforcement officers needing immediate assistance can call 1-800-522-KIDS (522-5437).

« this page last modified 11/19/09 »