link: CNN

Web kiosks to show missing kids

Thursday, July 28, 2005; Posted: 10:42 a.m. EDT (14:42 GMT)

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Public Internet kiosks are being used as modern-day milk cartons in an effort to find missing children.

SurferQuest, a Philipsburg, Pennsylvania-based supplier of about 1,000 computer kiosks throughout the United States, is donating screen space to disseminate photos and information provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

The kiosks provide public access to the Internet for a fee at places such as hotels and cafes.

When a kiosk is unoccupied, pictures of missing children appear on the screen in space normally reserved for advertising. Passersby can request more information about a missing child or report a sighting without charge.

"It is really important to give a missing child as much exposure as we can after their abduction," said SurferQuest president Kathryn Koning, a mother of four.

One in six missing kids whose picture is advertised is eventually found, said D'Ann Taflin, spokeswoman for the missing children's organization.

"We know that pictures work," Taflin said.

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