Digital boomerang

>>

At "La Fete des enfants" on August 20, Boomerang Connexion Security--a not-for-profit organization--will launch its new program to help identify missing persons--the Boomerang S.O.S. I.D. card. The card, which is sewn into a person's clothing, contains a colour picture, vital statistics and medical information about the missing person, as well as an I.D. code linked to a computer database. If a missing child or Alzheimer's sufferer is found, the card would enable authorities worldwide to obtain a larger digital photo and a copy of the person's file online.

"With this system, identification could take simply a matter of minutes," says Linda-Marie Camerano, who founded Boomerang in 1992 after her then two-and-half-year-old son kept trying to run away from daycare.

But Camerano says Boomerang has had a tough time funding its efforts--which are free to users--as well as problems getting other missing persons agencies to cooperate with them.

"We've already registered 5,000 members," says Camerano. "But we have 20,000 more on a waiting list." To date, the organization has helped identify 20 missing persons.

--Rina Calabrese

more news...