New Smartphone App Will Help Find More Missing People
About 600,000 people in the United States go missing each year. The United Center, located in Chicago, Illinois, is the second-largest arena in the U.S. and seats not quite 21,000 people. Missing people include children, adults, babies, and those with dementia. And the window of opportunity to find them diminishes minute by minute. We put things into place to protect our kids, like the online safety act, and we tell folks not to text. But yet, it happens, which is why The Guardian app was launched.
According to CNET, Elizabeth Smart, the survivor of one of the most famous abductions in the world, is helping a software company launch its Guardian app, which aims to help any person, regardless of age, who goes missing. Currently, the Amber Alert pushes a text and message out to anyone in the nearby area that a child has gone missing.
The main drawback of the Amber Alert is that there are very specific specifications that must be met before it is triggered. The person must be under 17 years old, and the child must be verified as being at extreme risk. While this is a great tool and has helped many children, the reality of the situation is we don’t know all the time if a child is in danger or not. That’s where the Guardian App comes in.
Developed by Q5id to find any missing person, the Guadian App relies on the power of the community to help locate anyone. Currently, we rely on software to help teach our children helpful skills like decision-making and resilience, so why can’t we use it to help find children or other vulnerable folks?
Elizabeth Smart was abducted almost 20 years ago and was held captive by a man and a woman. The couple attempted to brainwash Smart and tried to change her appearance. The man who snuck into Smart’s home targeted her because he believed he needed seven virgin wives to help him “fulfill his mission.”
Smart was found due to everyday citizens paying attention to things that may seem out of place or out of context. As soon as people saw something they thought looked “off” or just wrong, they called the police who immediately lept into action. This call was what eventually lead to Smart’s rescue.
While held captive, Smart envisioned being rescued with helicopters and dramatic fanfare. But Smart says it wasn’t like that. It was from everyday people just making a call and telling the cops something was “not right.” That is why Smart partnered with the software company to tell her story and help the Guardian App tell its story.
When we rescue people, we have a tendency to think it’s a big dramatic event. Even though it’s not like that. It’s quiet, it’s done by quiet heroes. And Elizabeth Smart experienced this firsthand. It’s not dramatic, it’s not like a soldier exchange or like what we see on TV.
The Guardian App works very simply and sends an alert out immediately when someone goes missing. It alerts the greater community to keep their eyes open and shows an image and description of the missing person. The app houses this information.
In a world where we would do anything to protect our family members, including sharing DNA in the event of a school shooting, paying for the Guardian App seems like a great tool to have in your safety arsenal.
