History
Our regional office in West Palm Beach, Florida, is home to our national toll-free hotline (1-800-THE-LOST), the entry point to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The Call Center serves as the heartbeat of our non-profit organization, fielding more than 5 million calls since 1984. NCMEC traces its legacy to South Florida, where a 6-year-old boy named Adam Walsh was abducted from a shopping mall and later found murdered. From their garage, and then this office, his distraught parents, John and Revé Walsh, touched off a national movement to help all missing and exploited children and co-founded NCMEC 40 years ago. In addition to providing child prevention programs and case management services for law enforcement and families, the Florida office also serves as the federally mandated National Emergency Child Locator Center. The center is activated by FEMA and operated by NCMEC during presidentially declared disasters to help reunify any children separated from their families. Today, the office is supervised by Adam’s brother, Executive Director Callahan Walsh.
Finding Missing Children in Florida
Dedicated case managers and their teams add value to cases of missing children reported to both law enforcement and NCMEC, while serving as an information hub for the law enforcement, families, and others who may become involved in a case of a missing or exploited child. Below are key numbers regarding NCMEC’s missing children efforts in 2022:
Missing children from Florida cases which were resolved: 2,481*
*This includes children reported as missing from any previous year
20 missing children from Florida has age-progressed images created in 2022
Children reported to NCMEC as missing in Florida: 2,517
124,502 missing child posters distributed in Florida through ADAM program
NCMEC provided support for 14 AMBER Alert cases initiated by Florida law enforcement involving 13 children
Reducing Child Exploitation in Florida
Through funding by the Department of Justice, the U.S. has sixty-one (61) Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces, which are dedicated law enforcement agencies that serve as that state's expert and hub on these types of crimes. Due to its size and population, the state of Florida has three ICACs – Gainesville Police Department, Osceola County Sheriff's Department and Broward County Sheriff's Office – all of which consistently year after year are among the top highest volume ICACs in receiving CyberTipline reports and investigating leads of suspected child sexual exploitation.
In 2022, Florida law enforcement received more than 34,000 actionable CyberTipline reports. Of those, 310 were Priority 1 or 2 reports, indicating immediate or imminent sexual abuse of a child. More than 57,000 of those total reports were related to the possession, distribution, or production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Additionally, more than 1,000 of those total reports concerned suspected online enticement, including sextortion, a continued risk to children as more and younger kids spend time online. Learn more here!
Like every state, sadly child sex trafficking is a serious concern for the state of Florida. Through reports from the CyberTipline and missing child intakes, NCMEC has a dedicated team of analysts specialized in these vulnerable victims and engage with law enforcement on their behalf. In addition, a team located at NCMEC headquarters provides real time analytical support to law enforcement recovery operations, focused on identifying and safeguarding children who are sex trafficked.
Preventing Victimization in Florida
Internet and real-world safety education is the backbone to prevention. The training staff in the Regional Office engage with schools and community groups throughout the state and endeavor to educate all children in age-appropriate ways about staying safer both on and offline. In addition, the outreach staff inform and educate child-serving professionals, law enforcement, like-minded organizations about the programs, resources, and services of NCMEC so we can all work better together to protect children. The training and outreach staff also represent NCMEC on various working groups and collaboration projects on a state and local level to leverage resources on a larger scale.
Educated through NetSmartz and KidSmartz sessions in 2022:
Adults: 1,642
Children: 10,554
1,493 registered NCMEC Connect users from Florida
Core Services
Outreach and Public Awareness: Utilizing a train-the-trainer model, NCMEC’s Florida Regional Office provides training to child-serving professionals in diverse fields. Trainings include information on how to reach children, teens, and families with safety resources such as presentations, Child ID events, and other means of engaging the community.
Case Management: When a child goes missing, NCMEC case managers play a vital role in collecting leads, adding value to tips, and coordinating information for the involved parties.
Exploited Child Services: NCMEC’s CyberTipline is the nation’s reporting mechanism for online child sexual exploitation. Each day, CyberTipline analysts review reports of online sexual exploitation, notify service providers, and add value to leads and reports.
NECLC: Created by FEMA to provide assistance in natural disasters or other catastrophic events to help reunite families and provide critical resources.
Contact
If your child is missing, IMMEDIATELY call 911, then contact NCMEC by calling 1-800-THE-LOST.
For questions, assistance, or resources related to missing or sexually exploited children’s cases, please call our 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST.
Visit our main Education page to learn more about our programs, services, and training.
Want to learn more on how you can help? Visit our Support Us page.
To arrange for interviews or comments from a NCMEC employee, please email media@ncmec.org.