BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — According to Child Find of America, more than 2,000 children are missing every day in America.
Studies found the key causes for a child going missing include: misunderstandings, running away, being lost or stranded, a family abduction or a stranger abduction.
This is why I spoke with two local organizations who have made it their mission to help families find their loved ones, and they shared ways you can keep your loved ones safe.
Gabrielle and Jenni are with the WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons Network.
"It can happen to anybody. This can happen to you. This can happen to your neighbor. This can happen to your friend. You should want to know the dos and don'ts of when people go missing. Not only children but adults as well, what to do in a time of need," WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons Network team lead Gabrielle told me.
The two team leaders chose not to use their last names on air for security purposes, since their roles involved being in unsafe environments.
"If your children go missing or your loved ones go missing, even if it's still within a 24-hour time frame, please go to the police station and give them a sample of your DNA because I can't tell you how many times they're going to, sadly, find a deceased person and then they're unidentified forever because they don't have DNA," Jenni said.
For runaway children, they advise the community and authorities to learn more about their story because not every runaway is a troubled teen, especially if they are considered a repeat runaway.
"There's many sides to the story, as far as a child wanting to run away from home, sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, family problems, parents are getting a divorce. It's not always the child being rebellious," Jenni added.
According to Missing Kids, a child who frequently goes missing or is absent for long periods may also be at risk of becoming a victim of trafficking. Youth who have left their home or run away are particularly vulnerable since traffickers often exploit their situation by making false promises of love, safety and affection.
"Runaways, statistically speaking, are a frequent flyer or runaway, tend to get flagged and tagged by traffickers. 'Oh, well this kid has been missing many times, so no one is going to miss them.' They scoop them up and then sometimes, they don't come back home," Jenni said.
Kareema Morris, founder of Bury the Violence, created the organization from a similar situation that happened to her niece, in 2013.
"When these kids are missing, we don't know what we're walking into but it's the reality that many of them are being trafficked. It's by their peers helping the grown. The three strikes your out rule-- some people do not want that third strike, turn to these systems and utilize the youth. The vulnerable youth," Morris said,
So how can we stop this?
Bury the Violence Team Member Christian Kincannon said parents need to be observant and inform their kids about what's going on in their community and their neighborhood.
"The knowledge of the groomer is that they are giving them something that they are not getting from home, so of course they are going to flee from home to the person that is grooming them, for them to be trafficked," Kincannon explained.
"Instead of being a parent to their kids, you're a friend and now you don't know how to control them when they get older, which leads them to running away and doing things they shouldn't do, like doing drugs, alcohol in the bathroom, leading them to the streets. Then how do you get them back? When you never had them in the first place," Bury the Violence Team Member Jala Mack added.
Bury the Violence has started a petition called #SAFERYOUTHACT. To learn more about the petition, click here.
The conversation and awareness continue on August 25, in Jamestown.
An awareness picnic at Allen Park is taking place from noon to 5 p.m.
7 News chose to blur the photos of past missing children who were posted in this piece for safety.
