An Amber Alert had been issued for two missing children in Mitchell County, North Carolina. This county is an extremely rugged and mountainous area that borders Tennessee. The children that were lost had been last seen on Roan Mountain in Mitchell County as there parents had lost sight of them upon returning back to the public parking lot on the mountain.
The brother and sister were found after having been missing overnight in the rugged western North Carolina mountains. Officials said the children were located Thursday in the Roan Mountain section of national forest lands in Mitchell County on the Tennessee border.
The children are from Kingsport, Tenn., and were hiking with their parents when they disappeared a day earlier. The U.S. Forest Service said a child’s shoe was found about a mile from where the brother and sister last were seen, leading searchers to the children.
When a child gets lost suddenly many things run through a parent’s mind and the worst case scenario is hard not to think about. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending with the blissful reuniting of parents and child. Unfortunately, the odds are not in your favor for every hour that goes by that your child is missing.
One of the hardest things to imagine would have to face a traumatic moment of discovering that your child is lost or missing. Here are some facts to consider
· Over 2000 U.S. kids get lost every day.
· Less than 10% are reported to any authority.
· 90% of families will experience losing a child in a public place. 20% have lost a child more than once.
· 95% will forever remember the trauma of getting lost.
· Parents rank losing a child 5 times more concerning to them than terrorism and 3 times more concerning than abduction.
· Kids get lost most often in malls and stores (45%)
· 27% of families that visit an amusement park lose a child while they are there. That’s nearly 1 in 3!
· Only 9% of parents put some form of safe ID on their children.
· 76% of parents want to know what to do to prevent a child from getting lost.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper,Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.
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Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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