Mom Finds Her Kidnapped Children On Facebook

by Glynnis MacNicol | 10:21 am, June 6th, 2010

» 1 comment

After months of suffering bad press for overly aggressive privacy intrusions here is a nice story about Facebook, also what sounds like a ‘Made for TV’ movie in the making (if they still make movies for TV!).

A mother has reportedly located her kidnapped children via Facebook. After losing her children to her then-husband who disappeared with the toddlers then aged two and three, the mother recently attempted a Facebook search and discovered her daughter’s profile. From CNET:

“The teenager said, ‘Not interested in a relationship. We just have a happy life. Leave us alone,’” San Bernardino Deputy District Attorney Kurt Rowley told MSNBC. The profile disappeared, and the mother got in touch with Rowley and his investigators, who eventually located the children in Florida.

The father was arrested and charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of violating child custody orders, MSNBC said, and the mother, according to the KCCI report, was eventually given custody of the kids, who were initially watched over by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Facebook

Demensi

There’s a company called Nixle that allows citizens to send notifications and alert messages to public safety agencies. This could have been utilized in this situation to notify authorities about this missing child. Authorities could then send out an alert to its citizens, based on geography, so everyone would know.

Keep your family safe and use it. I do.