It’s been a while since I have written about missing people, yet they remain some of my most sought after posts.
After reading today about Neville Hobson interview with an American PR professional, Tony Loftis, and his use of social media to track down his missing 13-year-old daughter who ran away from her home in Boston, I wanted to let him know about the FBI’s new app for smartphones, its first ever, to find missing people. The Child ID app includes a special tab where parents can quickly and easily e-mail information and pictures of missing child to authorities with just a few clicks.
There is also an Amber Alert app for missing people from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as well as a Missing News Service app which uses Apple’s “push notification” and location services to provide live alerts of missing person’s within a subscriber’s proximity.
These all sound ingenious and valuable search tools in the most literal sense, and I wonder if these apps are being used, or developed for use, by police and missing people organisations in the UK.
And I sincerely hope that that Tony’s search for his daughter Allie, believed to be in New York, will soon have a successful outcome.
In memory of those who are still missing.
Have they found that woman who was kidnapped after her husband was murdered at the beach hotel in Kenya?
Very useful apps; however, I am not sure how well advertised they are to get the word out quickly and efficiently if you happen to find yourself in one of these dreadful situations. Amber Alert is the most widely used one here in the States as far as crossing multiple media channels; however, it would be interesting to know the percentage of smartphone users even aware these apps exist. Cheers to you.
It’s a great application and services! It will be very helpful for the general people. It is useful for smartphone users and also in multiple media channels.