DES MOINES, Iowa — On Monday, the Des Moines Police Department announced it had safely located 11-year-old Fray Sanchez and returned him to his parents. Sanchez voluntarily left his home Sunday morning.
Local 5 spoke with police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about what families can do if their child ever goes missing. In addition to having recent pictures of your children, experts say it's important to know what websites they visit and the social networking platforms they use.
"They really should take measures to understand the apps that the children have on there," said Alan Nanavaty, who works as the Executive Director of the missing children division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "And then also know what passwords or screen names that the child is using, if they're on social networking sites. That way, if the child goes missing, the first thing the law enforcement may ask is whether they have a mobile device and what their account names are."
Nanavaty says police will be able to look deeper to see who the child was speaking with before they went missing. He adds endangered runaways account for roughly 90% of reported missing children. And while those kids chose to walk away, he says there are many dangers awaiting them.
"There's pressure with drugs and gang recruitment," Nanavaty said. "And the potential for sex trafficking and online enticement."
"Because of their age, they have certain vulnerabilities," added Sgt. Paul Parizek with the Des Moines Police Department. "They're a little more susceptible to maybe manipulation or just misunderstanding of what their abilities are and how they're going to be able to take care of themselves. So there's always an urgency when it's a kid because you just don't know."
That's why police and the NCME say the public needs to be investigators' eyes and ears when children go missing. Parizek says people shouldn't think twice about sending in their tips if they see something suspicious.
"Because we'd rather find out that, 'Hey, that was just a mistake' or somebody didn't recognize the person that they thought they did, rather than miss an opportunity to find the kid," he said.
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WATCH: How does Iowa keep track of missing persons?