ACR 200: Missing Children’s Day.

WHEREAS, May 25th has been nationally recognized as National Missing Children’s Day since 1983 and internationally recognized as International Missing Children’s Day since 2001; and

WHEREAS, National Missing Children’s Day was established in honor of Etan Patz, a six-year-old boy who disappeared on his way to school in New York City in 1979, whose case became a symbol of the movement to protect missing children in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) was established by John and Revé Walsh after the abduction and murder of their six-year-old son Adam when they channeled their painful experience of losing Adam to create NCMEC in 1984; and

WHEREAS, Today, the NCMEC operates 16 congressionally designated programs to find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization; and

WHEREAS, In 2025, the NCMEC received over 130,000 calls related to missing and exploited children through its national toll-free hotline 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678); and

WHEREAS, In 2025, the NCMEC received more than 32,000 reports of missing children, including 1,842 reports of missing children from California; and

WHEREAS, The NCMEC manages the America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alert Secondary Distribution Program and, as of December 2025, more than 1,300 children have been recovered as a result of AMBER Alert activations; and

WHEREAS, The NCMEC supports the resolution of long-term missing children’s cases by creating age progression images and facial and skull reconstructions, assisting in biometric collection and analysis, and engaging the public to identify unknown deceased children through the Help ID Me initiative; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby declares May 25, 2026, as Missing Children’s Day in the State of California, recognizes the efforts of families, law enforcement, and organizations, such as the NCMEC, that work to bring missing children home, and proclaims that every child deserves a safe childhood; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.