What Happens When A Child is Reported Missing in Marion?

Local law enforcement say that abduction is rare, but simultaneously advocate parents of missing children to call the moment they know their child is missing.

"If you wait for 48 hours to call in a missing kid, that’s 24 hours that have gone by that we haven’t been looking for them," said Marion Police Investigations Lieutenant Scott Elam. "It is a gut feeling call for a parent."

That’s because despite the fact that police say most missing children are soon found, there are cases like that of 12-year-old Johnny Gosch, where the child is never seen again.

While local law enforcement said there are no missing children in Marion, the possibility of abduction — no matter how remote — begs the question: What usually happens when a child is reported missing and what can a parent do to help find them?

Law enforcement officials have said they see some patters to how many of these cases evolve.

Young Kids

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said the search for the vast majority of calls for missing toddlers ends in the parent’s own home.

"We usually ask [parents] to search for the kids to look in the house," he said. "Under the bead, in laundry baskets — the little ones have the darndest places to hide."

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children advise parents to also look in "piles of laundry, in and under beds, inside large appliances, and inside vehicles, including trunks—wherever a child may crawl or hide."

Teens

Marion Police Sgt. Lance Miller said the vast majority of missing persons cases — reported as frequently as one person per day in the Cedar Rapid/Iowa City corridor — are a result of runaways. 

Elam, his colleague, agrees.

"They are usually kids that have taken off from mom and dad," he said. "They usually come back a day or two later."

The West Branch Times reported in December last year that 17-year-old West Branch teen Brittany Safley-Prigge disappeared for after having a fight with her parents, in which they confiscated her cell phone.

She was found four days later at her then-boyfriend's home, 220 miles away in Goodview, MN.

Her boyfriend, Angel Olvera, allegedly hid her in his basement for five days.

What Can a Parent Do?

But what are the options available to those that want to get help for a missing child?

Two notification systems exist for parents of missing children in Marion: Operation Quickfind and the Iowa Amber Alert system.

The Amber Alert is a collaboration between law enforcement and the press that notifies broadcast news providers on an abducted child, but only if the case meets these guidelines:

• Police have to confirm that the child is abducted, not just missing

• Law enforcement have reason to believe that the child is in serious danger of harm or death.

• The missing child has to be under 18

But there’s a less stringent set of requirements for an Operation Quickfind alert, a similar notification option available to Marion residents and many in the greater Cedar Rapids Metropolitan area.

• Residents reporting a missing person to police will be asked if they want to launch an operation quick find — usually if the person has been missing for less than 12 hours

• There doesn’t necessarily need to be evidence of an abduction and there’s no age requirement

• A notification of the missing child will be sent to local news agencies with a photo and description of the missing person

Making the Call

Regardless of how children get lost, whether or not they ran away or have been taken, or even what may have happened prior to their disappearance, Sheriff Gardner said there's one crucial step parents have to make.

Call the police.

"The whole goal is to get them home as soon as possible," he said. "Regardless of whether they just wandered away from home or have been abducted."