National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Mission Statement

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) mission is to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation; help find missing children; and assist victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

Headquartered outside the nation?s capital in Alexandria, Virginia, NCMEC was created in 1984 as a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization to provide services for families and professionals in the prevention of abducted, endangered, and sexually exploited children. Mandated by Congress and working in cooperation with the US Department of Justice?s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement personnel with more than 111,300 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 96,900; trained 212,500 police and other professionals, handled more than 350,000 reports of child sexual exploitation through our CyberTipline, distributed more than 39,000,000 free publications; and handled more than 1,900,000 telephone calls through its national toll-free Hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). NCMEC?s web site, www.missingkids.com, reaches a global audience with a multilingual database of images and information on missing children, prevention tips, and free resources.