Nightly News   |  May 25, 2012

Patz case revolutionized search for missing children

From the first database for missing children to amber alerts, the Etan Patz case spurred new technologies to aid authorities and the public in locating children who disappeared. NBC’s Chris Jansing reports.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>> case, of course, was one of a few that changes the way the country dealt with crimed against children and put child abduction into the front of america's consciousness for better or worse. we get more from chris jansing .

>> the photos are faded, but rosa glover's memories are fresh from the day in 1989 when her son disappeared from a playground in harlem.

>> i figure he's out there somewhere, we just have to find him.

>> the arrest in the etan patz case has given families of missing children nee hope and changes since the abduction have been dramatic.

>> in 1979 , you couldn't enter missing children information into the fbi's national crime computer. you could enter information about stolen cars but not stolen children .

>> patz's disappearance led president ronald reagan to sign legislation establishing the database of national children. every year, an estimated 200,000 children are abducted by family members. 58,000 by nonfamily members. 10015 are stranger abductions where the child is kilded, held for ransom, or taken with the intention to keep them. technology has been a game changer. pictures that once went out on milk cartons are now sent out immediately.

>> at the center for missing and exploited children , the recovery rate 12 years ago was 62%. now, it's 97%. elizabeth smart snatched from her bed at fraeb, was found nine months later. jaycee dugered was found after 18 years. and though adam walsh was killed by his abductor. 27 years later, his father was grateful when the case was solved.

>> rosa glover still has hope. technology allows her to see what her son might look like now at 23.

>> i have to find him.

>> she believes someone somewhere with answer the heart breaking questions she's asked herself every day for 21 years. where is my son? chris jansing , nbc news, new york.