FBI launches phone app for missing children

PHOENIX - The FBI is going high-tech and literally putting in your hands the power to find your child in the event he or she goes missing.

You never leave home without it and on your phone you can download applications for just about everything.

Now, the FBI is hoping parents will add one more to the mix. It’s called FBI Child ID. So, if your child goes missing, there's an app for that.

“I've never had a missing child,” says mom Lissette Valle-Thompson.

But, that's not stopping Valle-Thompson from downloading it for free on her phone.

“The thought of something happening to her is just one of the scariest things,” says Valle-Thompson.

Here's how it works. Once you download the app, you can create a profile for each child.

Then you enter info like your child's name, address, home phone, date of birth, height, weight and indentifying characteristics.

Beyond that, you can look at safety tips and there are checklists which explain, step by step, what to do the first 24 hours your child goes missing. And, believe it or not, it does happen.

“I've known people to have their children go missing,” says dad Corey Wiggin.

Wiggin says immediately sending your child's profile to law enforcement and the FBI straight from this app is invaluable.

“It's a time saver because every second counts when your child is missing,” says Wiggen.

He plans to download it to his phone, but hopes it's the one app he never has to use.

In the case your child goes missing and you email their profile to law enforcement, the FBI tells me they can then use that information to immediately solicit the public for help through the media and print posters.

Find out more about the app and how to download it.