Child Safety

You receive a direct message from someone that you follow on Twitter. It says something rather innocent and intriguing such as, "Check out this blog type website. you need to see it.." and, "Hey look at this funny blog." There may be other variants, but you get the idea. I have removed the links, but anything on the access-logins.com domain should be avoided. When you click the link you arrive at what looks like the main Twitter login page. Only it's not genuine, it's a cloned site. And if you use this cloned site to enter your login details, your username and password will be recorded and used to access your account.

KMBC's Peggy Breit reported that the case is drawing attention to flaws in the state's Amber Alert system. Some law enforcement agencies are issuing their own alerts that the state doesn't recognize, including the one issued by Independence police. Independence asked the Missouri Highway Patrol to ask for a statewide alert, but the patrol declined, because the case didn't meet the Amber Alert guidelines, the patrol said. The guidelines include that a child was abducted and is at risk for serious harm or death. As of a year ago, law enforcement departments can call their own Amber Alerts without approval from an Amber Alert board.

Ten year old McKenna Bishop, rushing from the living room where she had been watching the television, told her mother Carol Cornell about her formerclassmate. The boy had been in her fourth grade class for two weeks at the beginning of the school year at Barranca Elementary School and then abruptly exited. Her mother called the television show, it was the first solid tip police received since the beginning of the case.

Haleigh's mother (Crystal Sheffield) alleges that her father, Ronald Cummings, physically abused both children as a means of punishment. In a statement to the press, Haleigh's Grandmother denied the allegations saying, "This is not the first time they've pulled this out -- it's not the first time. I don't think it's going to turn out the way they want it to. They must want custody really bad,"

Great news! To read the back story, please click on this link http://tinyurl.com/ct9qoa

Justin Lee Wainwright and Joshua Zohr have returned home. The teens disappeared Sunday, March 15 from their suburban Detroit homes. Following their disappearance police issued amber alerts to help locate the missing youths. The disappearances didn't attract national attention until their parents set up a website to enlist the public's support of their cause.

Hopefully we can help these children in some way by raising awareness. Please help spread the word, thank you!

In India most of the children do not return. Lured away from their homes by the promise of jobs in the big city, these children are forced into exploitative situations by kidnappers masquerading as businessmen. Instead of having a better standard of living, receiving regular meals and being able to send money back to the family, many children end up in the sex trade or otherwise severely exploited.

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Very important tips and advice! It never hurts to be cautious and observant.

So, how can we protect our kids? By paying attention to the clues and cues of those adults who interact with them on a regular basis. Be mindful of any adult who seems "too good to be true" - often volunteering to "go the extra mile" with your child, suggesting lots of one-on-one or "alone" time with your child.

In some cases, missing children aren't always missing. That was exactly the case with Bruce Anderson who went missing near the turn of the century. In 1912, one of the biggest news stories in the country was the disappearance of four year old Bobby Dunbar.

Interesting historical information

Executive Editor of OC Family and Inland Empire Family, Kimberly Porazzo, did a wonderful video podcast about our child safety service InstantAmber. Kimberly created the video podcast following her audio podcast interview of InstantAmber CEO Matt Berman where they discuss the importantance of our service to parents.

On February 9th, 2009, Five year old Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her trailer home in the middle of the night. The next morning, dozens of law enforcement personnel combed the woods adjacent to her home, looking for any signs of the missing child. Days

In case you missed it, earlier this month, CEO Matt Berman appeared on a live webcast of Fox News' Strategy Room on February 3, 2009. While there, Matt discussed child safety and the American epidemic of missing children.

The Smart case proved to be one of the most exhaustive searches for a missing child ever implemented. Suspect after suspect was, held, interrogated, and arraigned with leads going nowhere.

FWD: FWD: FW: AMBER ALERT A 7 yr old girl was taken by a man driving a newer silver truck. The license plate reads 72b381 please please pass on. - To anyone who got this, please disregard.

Another true story of a child abduction...

In November 2001, Lois Smart met a clean and well kept homeless man on the streets of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The man called himself "Emmanuel" and claimed his calling was to be a minister to the homeless. Feeling a sense of sympathy for him, Lois Smart invited him to her home to do odd jobs.

Good to know!

One of the challenges of being a responsible parent is to teach your child to be cautious without filling them with fear and anxiety. Dangers do exist, and the more aware your children are of them, the safer they will be.

The 2009 Victorian Bushfire Fund to assist individuals and communities affected by devastating bushfires in Victoria has been launched. Donations can be made online or by phoning 1800 811 700 within Australia. Please read the webpage for details on how to help.

I hope we can all help out!

With the new Social Media tools at our disposal, it has become even easier for us to connect with parents concerned with their children's safety; potentially, the conversation on how to best protect your children can go on infinitely.

You can now contact and add InstantAmber at Facebook and Twitter!