4,000 child identification kits to be handed out Saturday at Tulsa State Fair

There are about 100,000 child abduction attempts every year in the United States. Thankfully incidents in Oklahoma are rare, but they do happen and parents need to be prepared. <br><br>News on Six reporter

Thursday, October 3rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

There are about 100,000 child abduction attempts every year in the United States. Thankfully incidents in Oklahoma are rare, but they do happen and parents need to be prepared.

News on Six reporter Rick Wells went to the Tulsa State Fair to tell us about new help for parents. Itâ€™s called a child identification kit you can get your hands on one or more of them here at the Just For Kids building, on Saturday at the fair.

Lots of things for kids at this year's fair. Educational and fun things for them to do. Lots of distractions, and if kids get separated from their parents there's an effective plan in place to get them back together. But when the fair is over and things get back to normal how prepared are you if your child is abducted, lost or otherwise missing.

The state of Oklahoma is trying to help. The Lt Governor's office is providing parents who want them DNA kits; each kit contains a bag to collect a sample of hair, fingernail and saliva. Tulsa County Sheriffâ€™s deputy Sgt Willie Lewis: "Seal it away in this kit, and what it does Rick, it just provides us with another tool to assist us in located a missing or kidnapped child."

He says the more tools law enforcement officials have to work with the better chance of recovering missing kids. Teryl Sperle is the mother of five. She says she's not sure she understands the value of it. "Sounds one of those morbid things, more one of those things that would help identify them when it's too late."

Not necessarily, Sgt Lewis says having the child's DNA available can help investigators track where a child has been for example matching DNA found in a car an abducted child was in. "A lot of times we can tell a lot about where we're going by determining where someone has been."

The Lt Governor's office has 4,000 of them to give away to parents on Saturday, beginning at noon, in the â€˜Just for Kidsâ€™ building, located between the new livestock arenas and the midway.