National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

If your child has been abducted or is missing this is the best place to start.  This organization has the experience to help you take the next steps in searching for or recovering your child.  Their website is www.ncmec.org.  I would visit their site first as they have a good checklist of what you should do in the case your child is abducted or goes missing.

United States Department of State Office of Children's Issues

If your child is a United States citizen and has been abducted to another country the Office of Children's issues is the section of the State Department that you need to contact. Click here to go there.

If your child is a citizen of another country and that country is a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, click here to find the authority you will need to contact.

Click here to view the 2009 report (in .pdf format) on compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Office of Children's Issues is required to report each year to congress the compliance of member nations to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

This is an international treaty that governs how countries will handle Child Abductions. If your child has been abducted to another country and that country is a signatory to this convention this is the formal and legal procedure for you to have your child returned. Click here to view the full text.

To determine if a country is a member of the Convention Click here. All nations listed on this page are signatories to the International Child Abduction convention.

If the country that your child has been abducted to is not part of this convention it may be a lot more difficult to have your child returned. You will most likely have to work through the legal system in that nation.