National Missing Children's Day Urges Public to Use Social Media Tools to Search for Missing Kids

On the 37th annual Missing Children's Day, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children are encouraging the public to continue searching for missing children despite some of the nation's stay-at-home guidelines. 

"At NCMEC, we know that all it takes is one person to pay attention, do the right thing, and help bring a missing child home," the organization stated in a press release. "For the families that NCMEC works with, National Missing Children’s Day is an opportunity to generate new attention for their missing loved ones and garner new leads in their case."

As the coronavirus-fueled stay-at-home orders begin to loosen nationwide and the public begins to venture outdoors, NCMEC hopes the public will continue searching for missing children, who can be featured in personalized videos at RunawayTrain25.com.

Last year, for the 25th anniversary of the Grammy-winning hit "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, NCMEC launched the website, which uses geotechnology to let users view missing kids in their region.

In the original video, the band showcased powerful vignettes about the ways children go missing — an infant stolen from a stroller, a predator luring a child with candy — and featured the real-life faces of 36 missing children. As a result, 25 of the children were found.

“Because of that video, we know that kids came home as a direct result of that video playing on MTV,” Becky Kovar, spokesperson for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, told PEOPLE at the time.

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Most recently, the father of Aundria Bowman was arrested for the death of his daughter, who went missing in 1989 and was featured in the original video.

A statement from Allegan County Prosecuting Attorney Myrene Koch's office indicates that, in February, after developing new leads in the case, investigators recovered Aundria's remains from a shallow grave covered with cement.

In the statement, Koch said she wants "to assure Aundria's family and friends that even though this has been a very long road, this is the first step to seeking justice for her."

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