When it comes to cases of missing children, law enforcement have a variety of tools at their disposal as well as a variety of procedures to go through when working to find the child.

Det. Lt. Mark Hanson of the Williston Police Department said there are several kinds of missing persons cases when it comes to children and there are different ways to approach each of them. He said the procedure for conducting investigations and working to find the missing child differs in each specific type of case.

Hanson said there are cases of missing children where the child is a runaway. He said there are also cases where it's a matter of the child not coming home from school or from work.

The other kinds of cases involve abducted children. Hanson said this can come in the form of being abducted by a stranger or by a family member such as a parent.

"We have a lot of different scenarios. When we receive a call on a missing child, during the initial report we need to determine why the child is missing and what kind of case it is," said Hanson. Hanson explained that there are different ways to proceed depending on the type of case.

"The parents would know if it was a runaway or if the child didn't come home from school or work. We gather the general information regarding the circumstances so that the appropriate course of action can be taken in finding the child," said Hanson.

Hanson said in missing persons cases, information is immediately put into the National Crime Information Center database. The NCIC is a computerized index of criminal justice information available to federal, state and local law enforcement. Officers from agencies can access this database for quick disclosure of information regarding criminals and missing persons.

"On the day and time we find out that we're dealing with a missing child, within about 30 minutes of confirming that, that information is entered and on the NCIC database," said Hanson.

Hanson said there another important tool to help locate children in certain situations is issuing an AMBER Alert. He said there are only certain circumstances when these are used.

Criteria for issuing an AMBER Alert includes it must be an abduction of a child aged 17 years and younger, and there must be confirmation by local law enforcement that the stranger or family member abducted the child in which the child is believed to be in grave danger of serious bodily harm or death.

Other information provided during an AMBER Alert includes descriptive information on the child, the abductor and the abductor's vehicle is available.

Hanson said unless the missing child case meets that specific criteria, they can't put out an AMBER Alert.

"We can still put out an APB or other types of alerts," said Hanson.

An All Points Bulletin, or APB, is an alert that law enforcement can put out, usually meant to be on the lookout for a criminal or missing person.

When beginning an investigation into a missing child, Hanson said all possible leads are immediately investigated.

"We're open to any information or leads from friends, family and acquaintances. Any leads are immediately checked by officers," said Hanson.

Hanson said "about 95 percent" of missing children reports to the police department are usually resolved within the first week, and in many cases even sooner. He said if the child isn't found within a reasonable amount of time, that being a couple of weeks or more, they then begin working on broadening their search throughout the area.

Information can be shared between departments with specific local, statewide, or national alerts through the National Law Enforcement Teletypes System, or Nlets. Hanson said this can be useful for messages between departments in different jurisdictions and states. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is also a valuable resource.

Hanson said they begin going through every possible lead immediately and anyone with information is always encouraged to contact the police department.

"What people should know is that the majority of cases we solve comes directly from information provided by members of the public," said Hanson.

For more information on the AMBER Alerts, visit www.nd.gov/amber.

For more information on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, visit www.missingkids.com.