DNA kits available to help locate children

Offered free Saturday at Moses Lake I-90 Toyota

MOSES LAKE - Tools used for parents and law enforcement to locate missing children are available at no cost Saturday at I-90 Toyota Chevrolet.

"I really believe it's a no-brainer, you need to take advantage of it," DNA LifePrint President Joe Matthews said. "It's something you hope to God you never have to use."

He said kits are given out to parents to assist in locating a child if they are missing. The kits are available from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the vehicle dealership located at 12056 N. Frontage Rd., in Moses Lake.

The kits include a fingerprint profile, a digital mug shot of the child, a DNA kit and a journal.

The child is fingerprinted, Matthews said. The fingerprints never change.

The mug shot is something that must be updated every six months so a clear and accurate image of the child is available.

"The photo is really important," he said. "The parents don't usually have close-up mugs."

The DNA kit involves using a cotton swab to scrape the inside of the child's cheek and is placed in a casing to protect from contaminants.

The journal includes a series of questions including asking the child to identify their favorite hiding place and places they like to visit. The information is documented and should be updated regularly as the answers change with age, Matthews said.

The parents are to keep the kits and turn them over to law enforcement if their child becomes missing, he said.

The children do not need to be present to obtain a kit, Matthews said.

He recalled a situation involving three children who were playing hide and go seek in New Jersey. The children managed to climb into the trunk of a vehicle, the trunk locked and all the children suffocated.

Matthews said the situation could have been prevented if the parents had a journal indicating the children's favorite hiding place. The parents and law enforcement had no idea the children were in the trunk, he said.

The DNA kit is accurate, he added.