I remember one afternoon I was at the mall with my two young daughters and four of my sisters. I turned around from looking at a shirt in a store and said to our crowd, “Hey, who has Kimberly?” Four sisters faces stared back at me in shock. In less than a second I was out of the store, running and frantically yelling orders for each sister to go in a different direction looking for my lost 5 year old. I was pushing my youngest in a stroller, feet in the air, as I bumped her into numerous strangers. Panicked I ran the length of mall screaming her name over and over only to come back to our original store seeing four sisters all empty handed. I thought I was going to lose my mind!

This story has a happy ending. I found her standing on a cement wall fifteen minutes later. She said I had taught her if we ever got separated to stand on something high and not move, which may be the last time in her life that she ever listened to me. There she was nonplussed waiting patiently and confidently for me to find her. This story brings tears to my eyes even today. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared.

The FBI has released a free app for your cell phone that holds a file with your child’s latest photos, identifying information and everything law enforcement can use to help find your child should they go missing.

FBI Child ID App: http://bit.ly/HLW-FBIApp