RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley has proclaimed Wednesday, May 25, as Missing Children's Day. He encourages citizens to wear a white ribbon in rememberance of the thousands of children who are reported missing each year in North Carolina.

"The good news is that of the 9,113 children reported missing to the N.C. Center for Missing Persons last year, more than 96 percent were returned safely to their families," Easley said. "We celebrate their safe return while keeping the children who remain missing in our thoughts and prayers."

Missing children cases include those who are taken by a non-custodial parent or relative without permission, toddlers who have wandered from their yard and gotten lost, and teenage runaways. Most of the children are either found by law enforcement officers or return on their own. Most cases do not involve foul play.

Last year, the Center for Missing Persons activated the AMBER Alert broadcast and message service six times for children believed to be in imminent danger from an abduction. The alleged abductors were subsequently captured and the children returned to their custodial parents.

The Center for Missing Persons sponsors a statewide training initiative titled Missing and Abducted Children: A Survival Program for First Responders and Initial Investigators. More than 400 law enforcement officers representing more than 100 local law enforcement agencies have received this training.

The Center for Missing Persons is housed within the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

May 25 is recognized every year as National Missing Children?s Day. The date marks the anniversary of the 1979 abduction of 6-year-old Etan Patz from New York City.

The Center's phone toll-free number is 1-800-522-5437. It is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To learn more about the nationwide effort to help locate missing children, go to www.missingkids.org.