National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the President of the United States reauthorized the allocation of $40 million in funding for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as part of Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2013 (H.R. 3092; 113th Congress). Current chair of NCMEC is child safety advocate Patty Wetterling, mother of Jacob Wetterling.

History

Founding and early years

The formation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was spurred by notable child abductions, such as the 1979 abduction of six-year-old Etan Patz from New York City, and the 1981 abduction and murder of six-year-old Adam Walsh from a shopping mall in Hollywood, Florida. Because police had the ability to record and track information about stolen cars, stolen guns, and even stolen horses with the FBI's national crime computer, it was believed that the same should be done with children. In 1984, the U.S. Congress passed the Missing Children's Assistance Act, which established a National Resource Center and Clearinghouse on Missing & Exploited Children. On June 13, 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was formed by President Ronald Reagan in a White House ceremony to maintain those resources. The national 24-hour toll-free missing children's hotline 1-800-THE-LOST was also established.