Every year, one or two children or at-risk persons get lost in the crowd of onlookers at the Snowdown Parade. Finding missing children and reuniting them with their parents as soon as possible is a high priority for the Durango Police Department. The department and community partners will offer a Child Location Station during the parade Friday. The Location Station will be at the Durango Welcome Center, 802 Main Avenue. Child identification bracelets will be available at the Welcome Center during the week leading up to the parade.
Parents are encouraged to take the following steps to assist police and help ensure children will be found safe and unharmed in the event they go missing at the parade:
Pick up a child identification wristband at the Welcome Center between Monday and Friday.Fill in contact information on the wristband, and make sure the child is wearing it at the parade.Take photos of children with the clothing they are wearing at the parade, with and without coat and hat.Place a note in the child’s pocket with the child’s name, home address, parents’ names and additional contact numbers.If you realize your child is missing, call 911 immediately or contact officers who are close by. Stay where you last saw your child until police arrive. Officers will immediately contact all law enforcement. If a photo of the child is available, it will be sent out to officers on the lookout. If a child appears lost, stay with the child at that location; their parents may be close by. Call 911 and remain with the child until police arrive. If the child’s parents have not been located by the time the officer arrives, police will take the child to the Child Location Station at the Welcome Center. For more information, contact Durango Police Commander Rita Warfield at 375-4765 or BID at 375-5067.
