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Kimberly Houk ReportingStatistics show that roughly 2,000 children are reported missing every day. Police now have a new tool that will help them get the information they need to immediately start searching.
Police say the first three hours are the most critical after a child is taken. It's within this amount of time that children are generally found alive. Now parents have a safety tool that they can carry with them at all times. The new safety tool is designed to fit on your key chain and could one day help police find your child.
Officer Rochelle Brown, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "Take advantage of the opportunity of technology. Get it and help us watch out for your kids."
When searching for a missing child police need information fast. On average it usually takes police 45 minutes to get what they need and then pass it on to other officers on the streets. But parents can change that by handing police a password-protected USB plug in called a Lifelynx.
Ayd Alderman, Mother: “This obviously fits right on your key chain so that you have it at all times.”
And you'll have it if the police ever need it. All an officer has to do is pop it into their laptop and they instantly have an updated picture, fingerprints, and other vital information about your child. From there they can instantly print posters to be distributed and email the picture for more help.
Officer Rochelle Brown: "There's so many of us out there, if we get pictures pop up on a computer, we are instantly looking for that person."
Shari Young, Early Childhood Learning Center: "We know that it's critical minutes, and therefore, something like this would have it within moments or seconds, and we know that those moments are priceless."
And for a scared parent who's too frazzled to think straight, just being able to hand over their key chain may make all the difference.
Lori Cheiman, Mother: “It’s great. We do everything we can to keep our little ones safe.”
