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CNN Live Today
If Your Child Disappeared, Would You be Able to Give Police an Accurate Description?
Aired May 24, 2002 - 10:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: According to the FBI, an average of 2,000 children are reported missing every day. If your child disappeared, would you be able to give the police an accurate description? Well, believe it or not, about one-third of parents would not, and that could be critical.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis is on a nationwide campaign to remedy this problem with child identification kits. She does this as national spokeswoman for Commitment to Kids, a joint campaign of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the Ford Company.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS, ACTRESS: Ford Motor Company.
HARRIS: Ford Motor Company, a strange alliance here if you ask me.
CURTIS: Fantastic alliance.
HARRIS: I actually think it's an unprecedented demonstration, particularly in the automotive industry of a community activism, a care about not only their customers, but their community, which is their offering the free of charge the chance for you to bring your children into a dealership and have your children photographed and fingerprinted, and then you're given this kit. It's a Kid Care ID kit, which has photographs, description of your child, a set of fingerprints, and you keep this along with your documents, passports, house deeds, et cetera, because if, God forbid, you have to report a child missing, this is what they're going to need right away.
And of course time is of the essence.
HARRIS: Thirty-four percent I believe was the actual number I saw. I can't believe that.
CURTIS: Thirty-four percent of parents don't know accurately they're exact height and weight. They go, well, he's about 40 pounds, but they don't know, and that's the kind of critical information.
HARRIS: Eye color.
CURTIS: Eye color, I'm not sure that stat's accurate about eye color. Eye color is a slightly easier thing to remember. HARRIS: I would think so, yes.
CURTIS: but the stat around the country is 725,000 children are reported missing to the FBI annually. That's just a staggering number. And there are things that we as families can do to help keep our kids safe. And Ford Motor Company is offering you the opportunity through this program -- free, by the way -- offered around the country.
HARRIS: So what do you do? You just go to a Ford dealership, or?
CURTIS: You call 866-blue-oval. You go to the Ford dealership, and they're showing some photographs of the fingerprinting. There's law enforcement personnel there. It's a bit of safety fair. You talk about safety issues with your kids without scaring them. And it's a fantastic program, and again, one that's being done free of charge for you, for the communities that they work in.
HARRIS: Now we talked with you last year, actually my partner Daryn Kagan talked with you last year.
CURTIS: My twin sister Daryn, who is not here with me today, so I am going to be Daryn today for you.
HARRIS: She's out jet setting with Bono.
Have you seen the reports?
CURTIS: No, I haven't.
HARRIS: You know, you should see them. Because lately, the last three or four she's done, she's been out in the rain, and I got to tell you that scene in "True Lies," it's you.
CURTIS: Well, she and I are separated at birth twin sisters.
HARRIS: She's going to hate it that she missed you.
CURTIS: I missed her.
HARRIS: What I want to know is, you know, we talked last year about, have the numbers gotten any better?
CURTIS: The numbers have gotten better. They've actually gotten to their lowest, but still at 725,000, meaning that they may be going down. And I think part of the reason they're going down is today,"People" magazine -- I was just shown this before I walked out here. "People" magazine has a cover story about those two twin girls in Oregon that are -- not twin girls, excuse me, two girls separately who were both kidnapped. It's now becoming a public awareness campaign.
Clearly the Chandra Levy case brought to the attention again the plight of missing children and their parents, the agony of watching the Levys go through this year-long wait to find out what happened to their child.
HARRIS: Let me ask you about something else. Would you go so far as to do the implants with your kids with the chip?
CURTIS: You know what, I don't know enough about the background of the implant. I personally find it hard to think that I would implant something in my child, because for me, who has control of that information, meaning if you can track somebody, who has the tracking information? I would be concerned, of course, that predators could get ahold of that information as quickly as law enforcement.
HARRIS: It would be the most instantaneous way to actually find a child.
CURTIS: Certainly. They're bracelets. They're ID tags that you could put on someone. You know, that's an area I don't know enough about. What I know about is prevention and safety tips, and safety opportunities for a family to talk about safety, because quite frankly, I think the biggest safety tip you can give your child is communication, keeping in communication with your family, telling them where you are going to be, what time you are going to get home, who you are going to be with, what the number of the place you're going with (ph).
HARRIS: You also have to have a relationship, you know.
CURTIS: That would be.
HARRIS: A lot of people -- you have to start that far back.
CURTIS: You know what, I think you may have to start that far back, but there's nothing more important than communication with your family. And I think that's the number one safety tip we can teach parents, stay communicating with your children all day long, know where they are at all times.
HARRIS: That's the message I think that many people should be listening and paying very close attention to.
CURTIS: And I hope taking advantage of this free program.
HARRIS: What's the...
CURTIS: 866-blue-oval, or blueoval.fordvehicles.com.
Thanks for your time.
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