Sept. 29, 1999

Salt Lake County has gone high-tech in its effort to find missing people. And detectives say it could shave days off the time it takes to locate a missing person.

News Specialist Shelley Osterloh explains how it works.

A national study says that one in seven missing children is found because someone identified them through a poster or flyer.

In the past, it used to take several hours, or even days, to get a missing person poster produced and distributed.

But now Salt Lake County has the ability to create those flyers in a matter of minutes.

Sgt. Rob Jack/Salt Lake County Missing Person: "OUR MAIN CONCERN ON THESE TYPES OF CASE IS TO GET AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE AND BE VERY PROACTIVE SO THAT OUR RUNAWAY OR MISSING PERSON DOES NOT BECOME A VICTIM OF A CRIMINAL-TYPE EPISODE OR SITUATION. IT'S VERY EASY FOR THEM TO BECOME A VICTIM WHILE THEY'RE OUT IN THE ENVIRONMENT, OUT ON THE STREET."

These quickly-made flyers should make finding missing people faster.

These posters are now in color, which police say makes is easier to identify the missing person than from a black and white photocopy.

And the posters can now be emailed to all police agencies in the county and even nationwide.

County officials say so far this year more than 450 people have been reported missing in Salt Lake County and almost 1,000 kids have run away from home.