Community Corner
Missing child
While listening to the band, at the park, during Herndon's 4th of July fireworks show, an MC casually announced a missing 3 year old girl. Other than age and name, no further details were provided. The band immediately returned to playing.
This seemed a bit casual, but I was not privy to additional insight. Approximately 20 - 30 minutes later, following the fireworks, a follow on announcement was made that the child had not yet been located, but a somewhat limited physical description was provided.
Okay, I do not have all the details, but it appears this event was poorly handled. In a large crowd, a missing child should trigger a more proactive approach, at the first alert. The mother should have been brought on stage and given the microphone to call out to her child to come to her. Subsequently, I believe the fireworks should have been delayed while a detailed description was relayed to the crowd, with immediate direction to look around.
The group of people I was with, all made a serious search, but the sea of people exiting the park, in the dark, muted the effectiveness.
We have no idea the status of this child, but a missing child constitutes an emergency. Waiting 20-30 minutes to give a follow up notice could be considered caviller.