NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — On Wednesday, May 10, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is visiting Newport News with tools to help police respond to missing children investigations.
The program was originally created by football coaches in 1997 after the abduction and death of Amber Hagerman, the person the Amber Alert was named after.
Since then, over 75 million child identification kits have been distributed across the country. They are designed to help law enforcement during the first 24 hours of a missing child investigation: a time period police say is crucial.
Parents put a photo of their child, a copy of their fingerprints and a form of DNA, such as a piece of hair, in the kits and then store them away, hoping they will never be needed.
The event is at Passage Middle School. Miyares will be joined by the city police chiefs from Newport News, York County and Poquoson.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
