When Wren Abbott and Darra Monson are eight years old, Darra's father steals a minivan. He doesn't know that Wren is hiding in the back. The hours and days that follow change the lives of both girls. Darra is left with a question that only Wren can answer. Wren has questions, too.
Years later, in a chance encounter at camp, the girls face each other for the first time. They can finally learn the truth―that is, if they're willing to reveal to each other the stories that they've hidden for so long. Told from alternating viewpoints, this novel-in-poems reveals the complexities of memory and the strength of a friendship that can overcome pain. |
Part One
|
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
In 1984, John and Revé Walsh and other child advocates founded the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as a private, non-profit organization to serve as the national clearinghouse and resource center for information about missing and exploited children.
Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to determine how many total children are actually missing in the U.S., as many children are never reported missing.
When a child is reported missing to law enforcement, federal law requires that child be entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, also known as NCIC.
According to the FBI, in 2015 there were 460,699 NCIC entries for missing children. Similarly, in 2014, the total number of missing children entries into NCIC was 466,949.
MISSING CHILDREN
In 2016 NCMEC assisted law enforcement and families with more than 20,500 cases of missing children.
Case type:
Of the more than 18,500 endangered runaways reported to NCMEC in 2016, one in six were likely victims of child sex trafficking. Of those, 86 percent were in the care of social services when they went missing.
NCMEC also participates in the AMBER Alert Program, a voluntary partnership between broadcasters, transportation agencies, law enforcement agencies, and the wireless industry to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases. NCMEC serves as the secondary distributor of these alerts and, to date, 841 children have been successfully recovered as a result of the AMBER Alert program, including 36 recoveries credited to the wireless emergency alert program.1
Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to determine how many total children are actually missing in the U.S., as many children are never reported missing.
When a child is reported missing to law enforcement, federal law requires that child be entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, also known as NCIC.
According to the FBI, in 2015 there were 460,699 NCIC entries for missing children. Similarly, in 2014, the total number of missing children entries into NCIC was 466,949.
MISSING CHILDREN
In 2016 NCMEC assisted law enforcement and families with more than 20,500 cases of missing children.
Case type:
- 90 percent endangered runaways.
- 6 percent family abductions.
- 1 percent lost, injured or otherwise missing children.
- 1 percent nonfamily abductions.
- 2 percent critically missing young adults, ages 18 to 20.
Of the more than 18,500 endangered runaways reported to NCMEC in 2016, one in six were likely victims of child sex trafficking. Of those, 86 percent were in the care of social services when they went missing.
NCMEC also participates in the AMBER Alert Program, a voluntary partnership between broadcasters, transportation agencies, law enforcement agencies, and the wireless industry to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases. NCMEC serves as the secondary distributor of these alerts and, to date, 841 children have been successfully recovered as a result of the AMBER Alert program, including 36 recoveries credited to the wireless emergency alert program.1