Colorado § 24-33.5-415.1 - List of missing children.

§ 24-33.5-415.1. List of missing children.

(1) For the purposes of this section, "missing child" means a child whose whereabouts are unknown, whose domicile at the time he was first reported missing was Colorado, and whose age at the time he was first reported missing was seventeen years of age or younger.

(2) (a) To aid in the identification and location of missing children, the bureau shall compile, maintain, and distribute a list of missing children. Such list shall be compiled from missing children reports submitted by law enforcement agencies pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.

(b) The bureau shall keep records of statistics on all missing children reports which it receives. Such records shall include the following information:

(I) The number of cases of missing children reported in Colorado;

(II) The number of missing children cases which have been solved in Colorado;

(III) The approximate physical location at which each child was last seen;

(IV) The time of day each child was last seen;

(V) The age, gender, and physical description of each child reported missing;

(VI) The activity the child was engaged in at the time he was last seen;

(VII) The number of reported sightings of missing children; and

(VIII) Any other pertinent information regarding a missing child.

(b.1) The bureau shall obtain, if available, the dental records of any child who has been missing thirty or more days, and any custodian of such records shall comply with the bureau's request for the records.

(c) The bureau shall release general statistical information to the public at least once each calendar year and shall report such statistics and other information the bureau deems appropriate to the governor at least once each calendar year.

(3) To assist the bureau in compiling the list of missing children, every law enforcement agency in this state shall, upon receipt of information that a child is believed to be missing, send a missing child report containing identifying and descriptive information about the child to the bureau as soon as possible but no later than two hours after obtaining the information. If, at a later time, the law enforcement agency determines that the missing child has been located, the agency shall send notification to the bureau no later than twenty-four hours after making that determination.

(4) To assist the bureau in identifying missing children, a county coroner shall report to the bureau any unidentified or unclaimed dead human body which is found within his jurisdiction and which could be the body of a missing child. Such report shall be made within five days of the time the coroner takes charge of the unidentified or unclaimed dead human body and shall include fingerprints, dental information, and a physical description of the body with respect to approximate age, height, weight, hair and eye color, deformities, and scars or other identifying marks. If the bureau determines that the information submitted on an unidentified or unclaimed dead human body matches the information for a missing child, the bureau shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency that submitted the missing child report.

(5) The bureau shall distribute a list of missing children on a regular basis to the Colorado department of education for cross-reference against the department's student records. The list must include the names of missing children together with whatever information the bureau determines would be helpful in making identification. The Colorado department of education shall compare the bureau's missing children list to the department's comprehensive list of students enrolled in Colorado public schools and shall immediately notify the bureau if its comprehensive list of students enrolled in Colorado public schools includes a missing student or information on the last-known school of enrollment of a missing student, and, if a missing child is identified, the bureau shall, in turn, notify the law enforcement agency that submitted the missing child report. All information received or transmitted pursuant to this subsection (5) is confidential and shall only be used for law enforcement purposes.

(6) In addition to distributing the list of missing children to school districts, the bureau may distribute such list to any other person or entity that the bureau determines might be instrumental in the identification and location of missing children. The bureau shall also list the name of every missing child with appropriate nationally maintained missing children lists. The bureau shall provide identifying and descriptive information about children determined to be missing immediately after receipt of reports from law enforcement agencies pursuant to subsection (3) of this section for entry into the national crime information center computer operated by the federal bureau of investigation. Immediately after a missing child is located, the law enforcement agency which located or returned the child shall notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the investigation and the bureau, and the bureau shall cancel the entry from the national crime information center computer.

(7) In order to accomplish the purposes of this section, the bureau is authorized to accept, receive, and expend assistance in the form of grants, gifts, grants-in-aid, bequests, and contributions from any agency, organization, or person. Such assistance shall be in addition to moneys appropriated to the bureau by the general assembly. Assistance received by the bureau in the form of money shall not revert to the general fund.

Source: L. 84: Entire section added, p. 687, § 2, effective July 1. L. 85: (2), (3), and (5) amended and (7) added, p. 826, § 1, effective June 6. L. 87: (2)(b.1) added and (3) and (6) amended, p. 693, §§ 10, 11, effective July 1. L. 2000: (2)(c) amended, p. 1549, § 15, effective August 2. L. 2022: (3) amended, (SB 22-095), ch. 70, p. 365, § 5, effective April 7. L. 2026: (5) amended, (HB 26-1299), ch. 295, p. 1619, § 2, effective August 12.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 26-1299, see section 1 of chapter 295, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Missing Children", see 13 Colo. Law. 1005 (1984).