Monmouth County Special Needs Registry Plays Critical Part In Locating Missing 16-Year-Old

The Monmouth County Special Needs Registry came in handy today when when the police department was able to locate a missing 16-year-old special needs girl, a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said.

A Good Samaritan called Manasquan police and alerted them that the child had wandered off, said spokesman Charles Webster.

Officers were able to locate the girl and reunite her with her parents because she was already registered with Special Needs Registry.

"The child’s grateful mom praised the officers and the Special Needs Registry and encourages other families to register their loved ones," Webster said.

“Only positive things can come from this,” the girl's mother said.

She also praised the citizen who called police when she noticed the girl had wandered away from home, despite all the precautions the family put in place to prevent such an occurrence.

“People need to call police when they see something that doesn’t seem right, and we are so grateful that someone did that for us," she said.

Special thanks go to the Manasquan Police Department and Sergeant William Sutton,
Patrolman Robert Wagner and Dispatcher Christine White for reuniting this grateful
family, Webster said.

“The Special Needs Registry was created for exactly this type of situation and we are so grateful that the outcome in this instance was so positive," Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said.

"If you have family members with special needs andhave not yet registered for this program, we encourage you to do so by visiting www.mcsnrnj.org.," he said. "Special thanks to the Manasquan Police Department for their outstanding work on this case and to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office for their ongoing technical support for this program.”

The Monmouth County Special Needs Registry is a voluntary service open to all citizens
with disabilities who reside, attend school or are employed in Monmouth County. The registry
was created to help police officers and other emergency service personnel better assist residents
with special needs in the event of an emergency by providing those first responders with vital
information regarding a registrant’s disability and emergency contacts.

Image: Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office