When children turn up kidnapped or missing, a photo often serves as a tool for police, Tim Sexton said.

Monday, August 07, 2000

When children turn up kidnapped or missing, a photo often serves as a tool for police, Tim Sexton said.

"But the best one is an unobstructed view from the chest up," said Sexton, chief investigator for Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr.’s office.

To help families get those photos, the office began using Polaroid’s KidCare ID program last year.

Donation-funded packs of film and a camera meant more than 100 families could feel safer, Sexton said.

Staff and volunteers hosted several KidCare ID events, inviting parents to have their children’s pictures taken. The pictures were then pasted into an identification booklet for safekeeping.

The booklet, provided by Polaroid, contains emergency contact numbers and safety tips – the most important one being call the police immediately, Sexton said.

Photo identification then becomes very important to investigators, especially if the height and weight of the missing child is right alongside, as in the KidCare ID booklet, he said.

The booklet also has spaces for updated pictures, which means police have a growth record that helps even more, Sexton added.

"Fortunately, we have never had reason to use a photo from a booklet but parents have them, and that’s good," he said. "It’s certainly a prevention tool."

Last year, the prosecutor’s office took more than 130 pictures. This year, the office surpassed that number by the time of the Lawrence County Fair, where KidCare ID photo sessions were also available.

"Parents have been really excited," Sexton said. "For one thing, they appreciate having the kind of photos police need and, second, they like that it’s free."

Businesses around Ironton and Lawrence County donate money to the program each year for film and supplies.

"Without those, we couldn’t do this," Sexton said.

The office will continue the program at other events this year, especially at schools when invited, he said.

"It will be an annual thing," Sexton said. "The ultimate reason for KidCare is to use it if a child comes up missing to help bring them home."

Polaroid’s KidCare ID program is endorsed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.