Parents

Help Starts Now.

What to do right now

If Your Child is Missing

1

Dial 911

Report your child missing to your local law enforcement agency. Don’t Wait.

2

Fill out the form

Let our team know about your situation so we can begin support. Click here to fill out the form.

3

Call ncmec

800-THE-LOST (800-843-5678) to help distribute your child’s photo nationwide.

You’ve asked for help

What happens next?

Once you call your local law enforcement and submit your information to Finding Kids, you will not have to figure out the rest alone. Our team typically contacts you within 24 hours. If we accept the case, a licensed private investigator begins developing leads and a Parent Support Advocate becomes your consistent point of contact that same day. Our investigator works the search while your Parent Support Advocate stands with your family, and both stay coordinated with the law enforcement agency responsible for bringing your child home.

Parents who have been exactly where you are, meeting together with a facilitator. Nothing needs explaining in that room.

One dedicated advocate, often someone who has lived through this themselves, walks with you: case updates, coaching, and calm guidance through the search.

Learn About Family Support

Resources

Beyond the search

Reporting a missing child sets several systems in motion at once, and most parents have never dealt with any of them. Here’s what each one does, who else to call, and what to ask for.

We treat every accepted case as missing and endangered. If your child has been labeled a runaway, we keep the focus on the risk around them: who influenced them to leave, where they may be, and who benefits from them being missing. Finding Kids advocates for that urgency while working within the law enforcement process.

The Other Side Of the problem

Connection is Prevention

The strongest protection begins with connection. Talk with your child regularly about who they message, where they spend time online, and anything that makes them uncomfortable. Learn the apps, games, and platforms they use. Set clear, age-appropriate boundaries around devices, location sharing, and meeting online contacts in person. Most importantly, make sure they know they can come to you without fear of immediate punishment.

You don’t need proof to pay attention; start a conversation with them today. Below are some general guidelines to help.

Regular time with your full attention does more than any monitoring app. Kids who feel connected at home are harder to pull away from it.

Kids stay quiet because they’re afraid of getting in trouble. When your child comes home, calls, or tells you something hard, they need to hear that they’re not in trouble, that it isn’t their fault, and that you’re here. Discipline can wait. Staying connected is what keeps them coming back to you.

Ask who they talk to online, how they met, and what those people ask of them. Ask the same way you’d ask about school. A kid who expects the question keeps fewer secrets.

Say it directly, and often. Kids stay silent because they’re afraid of getting in trouble. Take that fear away and they have an easier time talking.

Father of 14 year old

We do not charge families or law enforcement for our services. To make our work possible, we rely on private funders who decide that a missing child is their problem too.