LT. GOVERNOR UNVEILS NEW TOOLS FOR MISSING CHILDREN

September 17 - Lt. Governor Aiona held a news conference at the State Capitol to announce increased efforts in Hawai`i to find missing children and reunite them with their families.

"More than 3,000 children go missing each year in Hawai`i," Lt. Governor Aiona said. "Many of them return home safely, but all too often others stay missing."

To prompt greater public awareness about the seriousness with which family abduction cases must be addressed, the Lt. Governor and Governor Linda Lingle proclaimed Sept. 19 as "Missing Children's Day" in Hawai`i.

Calling the initiative a sign of the Administration's commitment to protecting children, Lt. Governor Aiona presented the proclamation to Tip Gilbert, father of Maile Gilbert, a 6-year-old Kailua resident who was abducted from her home and murdered in 1985.

In 2005, the Maile Amber Alert program was established to notify and enlist the help of the public when a child has been abducted in Hawai`i.

The Administration has added two new tools in its continuing campaign to address the missing-children issue.

Through a new partnership with Oceanic Time Warner Cable, posters of missing Hawai`i children can now be viewed at no charge on the news-on-demand digital channel 110.  Lt. Governor Aiona said this program is significant because of statistics that show one out of every six children is recovered by someone recognizing them in a photo and notifying authorities.

In addition, the state has launched Take 25, a program designed to heighten awareness of children's personal safety and provide parents and others with the tools they need to teach their children about safety.

"Together with a handful of existing programs, such as Maile Amber Alert and the Keiki ID Kit, we are working to emphasize the need to work together, as an `ohana, to address the issue of missing children," Lt. Governor Aiona said.