26 Aug Columbia Fireflies A Part of Program That Helps Find Missing Children
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Columbia, SC (WLTX) – Two missing Columbia teenagers have now been found thanks in part to a program designed to get their faces out to where most people will see them.
The program is under the BairFind Foudation, which partners with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Minor League Baseball teams around the nation.
The Columbia Fireflies are part of the push to spread the word about missing children.
“It’s a great thing for our staff and our community to have been a part of this,” says Abby Nass, vice president of marketing and public relations.
The next time you walk into Spirit Communications Park, you can see the sign with missing children from Columbia.
“The board is right at our main gates so you see it every time you walk in and head to your seats,” says Nass. “We’re excited that we could do our part and that two out of the four children on our poster have been found.”
Two girls who went missing from Columbia in the last two years have been found.
“We just found out this week,” says Nass. “We got contacted by the BairFind Foundation that they were going to send us found stickers to put on our posters.”
The organization was founded by Dennis Bair back in 2010.
“There is one tried and true method that is successful in the search for a missing child and that simply is the more eyes looking at the profiles, the greater the chance that somebody is going to recognize that profile and make the call,” says Dennis Bair.
Bair is a former Minor League Baseball player and says having the signs in 139 stadiums around the nation helps spread the word about these missing children. More than 40 million people attend minor league baseball games every year.
“So far this season, 150 of the kids we featured have been safely located,” says Bair. That includes the two found from Columbia.
“I give the Columbia Fireflies all of the credit in the world, because they have been raising awareness for these kids since opening day.”
“As long as we can get these kids back home, that’s the important part,” says Nass.
There are still 54 children who have been reported missing around the state, with 11 of them from the midlands.
If you have any information on any missing child you’re asked to call local law enforcement as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
© 2016 WLTX-TV
Original article: http://www.wltx.com/news/local/columbia-fireflies-a-part-of-program-that-helps-find-missing-children/308377667