No pediatric issue has so captured the attention of the American public during the past year as that of missing children. It is impossible to escape the haunting faces who peer out at us from television screens, milk cartons, breakfast cereal boxes, grocery sacks, bus posters, and business envelopes. Corporations vie with each other over sponsorship of public service campaigns to "publicize the plight of missing children," while television stations compete with a whole variety of specials.
Naturally, whenever emotional concerns of such magnitude are raised, politicians are sure to become involved with stern demands for "immediate action." In May 1985, no less than three separate congressional committees held hearings on missing children all in the same week.