Facebook launching new effort to find missing children

From electronic billboards, to emergency alerts over cell phones. Authorities will use any means necessary to bring a missing child home, and now they’re branching out to social media.

When you log onto Facebook, Amber Alerts in your area will now appear front and center in your newsfeed. This has been made possible by Facebook partnering with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The new system allows photographs, and any other available information of the missing children, to be readily available on your desktop and mobile devices.

Lt. Tim Robinson of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office weighed in, saying “By putting it on Facebook, it’s going to reach a whole other segment of our population that may not be driving on the roads to see it on a message board, may not be home watching it on TV. Yet, they’re surfing their Facebook on their mobile phone.”

We’re told Amber Alerts have saved the lives of more than 700 children nationwide since 1996. If you see any of the missing children, call law enforcement immediately, or simply dial 911.