By John Hinman, Managing Director with Nexus 5 Group
Most people aren't aware that we live in a metropolitan city where sex trafficking is a real issue. When I became aware of this inhumane issue/crisis, I thought to myself, “I can't hear this information and do nothing.” For all of the parents out there, it's time to get involved and get educated. The stories are devastating. One of the ways I've chosen to get involved is with Search KC.
Search KC is a three-day concentrated effort between law enforcement and community volunteers to find missing children. Search KC aims to build and lead a powerful alliance with the local community, businesses, law enforcement and media to educate and raise awareness of the issue of missing persons, resulting in locating missing persons and connecting them with restorative services.
Human Trafficking is happening right here in Kansas City
Many times, missing kids are sold into human trafficking, sexual exploited, or even killed by their predator. Did you know the average age of entry into commercial sexual exploitation in the U.S. is 11-14 years old? When you read that statistic and think, "well, it's not happening anywhere around where I live..." that's just not true.
Earlier this year from September 30th – October 2nd, volunteers on both sides of the state line handed out booklets showing missing kids to businesses and community organizations. This was the 3rd annual search event held in Kansas City. (With your help, this is an easy and effective way to get missing kids to safety.)
This year, as of October 31, 2021, 17 of the 28 missing persons in the Search KC booklet have been located by law enforcement. Also, 31 tips on missing persons and 7 information/observation Leads were generated by Search KC volunteers. Finding a single missing person is fantastic, but 17 is a massive success!
There is more work to do.
If you would like to help with the search for lost children in our community, check out the links below for more information. And my email address is jhinman@nexus5group.com. If you are interested in helping with the next Search KC, let me know and I will get you connected to the right people!
Additional Information
For additional information on Missing and Exploited Children check out the links below.
تعليقات