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Show Kidnapped! Could it happen here next? What can you do to prevent it? in Nebraska and a three year old's 'idSath. ..... .... . - - "Parents are now beginning to take precautions. We want them to call in anything suspicious. Even if it turns out to be nothing nine out of ten times, we'll go out and check the area any time someone calls about something out of the ordinary," said Schoppmann. Detective Roy Houchen stated that the Cedar City Police Department has also received a lot of calls. "We've had a lot more calls since all this began. We advise the kids very strongly not to go A sign has been placed in the window of each home and the children are taught in school what these signs look like and where they are located. According to Shirley Fife, president of the Iron County PTA, the School Board and the PTA have been working toward getting more programs with better information for the children. Included in these programs is one to have children fingerprinted so they can later be identified nationwide if there is u problem. The program is being offered of-fered through the PTA and the Sheriff's Department. The fingerprinting will become part of a identification kit the parents will keep. Each kit has a place for the fingerprints, a current picture of the child, a lock of hair, a footprint record, dental records, blood type, a birth certificate and a plate to record identifying marks. The fingerprinting begins the week of Oct. 11, and each school will be given one week, in alphabetical order, to have see KIDNAPPED on p. A:t ,Kv MICHELLE BATJE. ' Record Reporter CEDAR CITY - "We need to prevent kidnapping before it happens." "You don't wait until what happened to the (Rachel) Runyan girl happens here. You take precautions beforehand, so nothing like this does occur in our county," said Iron County Sheriff Ira Schoppmann in an interview with the Record regarding what residents and officials are doing to protect young children from kidnappers. "That's just what we're doing, we're protecting the children by educating them during school hours. We've also tried to educate the parents as well," said Principal Dee Smith from South Elementary. "The children have been instructed to report anything they see that seems strange and to get in touch with the police immediately," he said. Schoppmann stated that in past years, there have been missing children in the county, but nothing was really made of it until kidnappings in the Salt Lake City and Summit area resulted in a ten-year-old girl ending up with strangers regardless of what they offer them. We don't want to get them paranoid or upset by overemphasizing the point, but we can't ignore it either," said Houchen Programs are currently being offered of-fered throughout the various elementary schools to educate children against talking to strangers and also to report anything suspicious. The Block Watch Program, initiated by the Parent Teacher Association, has approved a number of homes in each area that children can go to if they need help. Kidnapped! continued from Al students fingerprinted. However, it will be the responsibility of the parents to have the fingerprinting done. Parents should pick their children up after school and take them to the sheriff's department, 45 E. Lincoln Avenue, Cedar City, between the hours of 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Parowan, Enoch and Beryl Elementaries will have on-site fingerprinting done at a date to be announced. Parents unable to attend at the designated times, or school children who travel by bus, will be able to make other arrangements. What can a parent do to help? According Ac-cording to Schoppmann, there are several things: The first, he said, is to educate your children. That point can't be overemphasized. "You can't stress too much, never ride with strangers," he said. Second, participate and help children with programs like the Block Program or neighborhood watches. Parents in a neighborhood can organize, he said, to take turns walking with children to bus stops or to school. Third, don't help your children to be fooled by a stranger by allowing strangers to know their names or personal information about them. One of the most typical problems, said Schoppmann, is children who go to school or playgrounds with their names on their shirts. |