You Can Make A Difference For Missing Children

John & Revé Walsh with 2008 National Missing Children’s Award Recipient Special Agent Christopher Haas and his family (wife Cynthia, daughter Gretchen, & son Dylan Haas) (Photo by Bob Bird/NCMEC).

May is always a busy time for me, and that’s especially true this year. It’s the month that includes National Police Week, and it was again my honor to host the National Association of Police Organizations’ annual “Top Cops” awards program in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, at America’s Most Wanted we’ve been hustling to produce a very important episode, marking an amazing milestone: the capture of the 1000th fugitive as a direct result of a viewer tip.

But most important of all, May is National Missing Children’s Month, a time to put a spotlight on the efforts we’re making to keep our kids safe. A highlight of the month for me is always the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s annual Hope Awards dinner. The Hope Awards recognize people whose efforts and experiences have made the world a safer place for children..

This year, the Field Family Foundation’s Courage Award went to an amazing young woman: Jessyca Mullenberg. In 1995, when she was 13, Jessyca was abducted and held captive in a motel room in Houston for more than three months. We profiled Jessyca’s case on AMW, and thank God someone who worked at the motel was watching. They called our Hotline, and Jessyca was rescued and reunited with her family. Now, she frequently appears on national television and in magazines to share her story, speaking about abduction from a victim’s perspective. Believe me, there were tears in everyone’s eyes as this courageous young woman took to the stage. The second honoree that night, the winner of the Charles B. Wang International Children’s Award, was Ben Affleck. He was recognized for his movie “Gone Baby Gone,” which explores the emotional issues surrounding a child abduction.

Looking around the ballroom, it really struck me how amazing it is that the effort my wife Revé started in our garage after our son Adam was abducted and murdered has grown over the years into the crucial resource that NCMEC has become. There have been so many positive changes, because so many people have fought to make a difference in the lives of children.

When Adam was abducted, there was no system in place for tracking information about missing children. Law enforcement agencies weren’t trained or equipped to investigate missing child cases. In fact, many of them didn’t want to get involved in such cases. Hardly anyone back then ever thought about endangered children, or heard about child abductions. It seemed like victims and their families had no rights. Now, thanks to the work of NCMEC and others, protecting our kids and acting fast when a child goes missing are top priorities for everyone – citizens and law enforcement alike. Together with other advocates for children, Revé and I fought to win passage of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act in 1984, and of other laws that make more resources – including the participation of the FBI – available when a child goes missing.

One of the most important child safety laws passed by Congress was the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, named in honor of my son. The president signed it into law two years ago on July 27th, the 25th anniversary of Adam’s abduction. It’s aimed at strengthening federal sex offender registries, and among other things it makes failing to register as a sex offender a federal crime. But here’s the thing: while so many lawmakers rushed to lend their support to this bill, and to have their photos taken with President Bush and me when it was signed, not too many of them have rushed to provide funding for the new law. Without that funding, the Adam Walsh Act is a hollow monument to my son and to all of our efforts over the years, because the US Marshals and other agencies have no money to enforce its provisions.

So, in this month set aside to remember missing kids and honor those who fight for our children, please make it a point to contact your representatives in Washington and demand that they provide funding for the Adam Walsh Act. There’s no excuse not to.

One more thing that you can do this month to help keep your kids safe: keep checking back here at the AMW Safety Center, where our safety team will be posting lots of important information all week long about such topics as how to get a identification kit for your child and how to help implement AMBER Alerts in your community.

Thanks for making a difference … and stay safe!

John Walsh