PREVENTING THE UNTHINKABLE: A MISSING CHILD EVERY SIX HOURS
Tuesday, 31 July 2007

A child goes missing in South Africa every six hours and 40% of these children are later found dead.

Niel Barnard is the CEO of the market leader in location-based services in South Africa. Cellfind offers a wide range of active and passive products that are your voice when you have no voice in an emergency.

Niel compiled the following advice to minimise your child's risk of abduction and to maximise the likelihood of their safe return:

1. Children should not wear clothing on which their names are boldly displayed. They will respond to their name even if a stranger calls them. Teach them the phrase: Stranger Danger.
2. Teach your children that they should not be embarrassed to scream loudly if someone follows them or tries to force them into a car.
3. Children should be taught to be wary of anyone who approaches them with offers to run errands, offers of sweets or chocolates or even requests for help, no matter how sincere they may seem.
4. Check who your kids are talking to online or texting on their cellphones. Every computer has a cache you can check and most cellphones have a log of recently dialed and received calls.
5. Devise a plan of action with your child in case they get lost in a public place. For example, you could arrange to immediately meet at a certain place like Information or you could tell your child to find the nearest uniformed security guard.
6. Your children should know your address, your home telephone number, your cellphone number and your work number. Don't let them rely on the fact that your details might be saved in their cellphones. Should they be old enough to carry cellphones, Cellfind's Look4help mobile panic button should be loaded onto their handsets as a speed dial and the children should be taught to immediately push their panic buttons should they feel threatened.
7. Children old enough to stay at home on their own should never reveal to strangers at the door or on the phone that there is no adult present.
8. Your children should always check with you before they go anywhere or get into a car, even with someone they know. The vast majority of abductions are by someone known to the child.
9. Don't delay calling the police if you suspect your child is missing. The first 24 hours are crucial while witnesses memories are fresh and the evidence trail is hot.
10. It is important to have a recent clear photograph of your child. This will help the police and the public search for your child if he or she goes missing.

Niel concludes by advising busy parents to consider using the latest electronic eyes and ears to ensure you fulfill that most basic parental responsibility of always knowing where your child is and which is also parenting's most challenging aspect. "There are a number of tracking devices on the market but all require additional hardware to be purchased. Look4me and Look4help are the only location-based services that use a person's everyday cellphone,” he said.

Look4Help means any child with a Vodacom cellphone can send an urgent distress SMS in seconds. Your child's phone becomes a mobile panic button alerting you and three other selected caregivers of his or her exact location at the time of the SMS. Look4Me turns your child's phone into a tracking device so you can check where he or she is any time.

To subscribe to Look4me, SMS the word REGISTER to 31888. To subscribe to the Look4help mobile panic button, SMS the word HELP to 31888.

Issued by: Ivan Booth
Reliable Sources PR
ivan@reliablesources.co.za
Cell: 082 851 7419

On behalf of: Niel Barnard
CEO, Cellfind