BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. -- The following report by Action News reporter Kelly Frey first aired Sept. 19, 2005, on Channel 4 Action News at 5:30 p.m.

---

What if you could help find a missing person within minutes of their disappearance? Would you do it?

A new program called "A Child Is Missing" started Monday across Pennsylvania.

The training for the program was held in Monaca, Beaver County.

It works just like this -- a person goes missing, and a police officer calls ACIM. The officer gives pertinent information -- such as where they were last seen and a good description. Within 15 minutes, thousands of calls go out.

More than 3000 children and elderly citizens disappear every day. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said in 74 percent of abduction cases, a child is killed within the first three hours.

That's why 48 area law enforcement organizations began training today in Beaver County to use the ACIM system. The system is run by a non-profit organization that provides a high tech phone service that only law enforcement can activate.

They call ACIM and a technician records an individual alert message. Using satellite mapping, the message is phoned out to people who live in the area where the person was last seen at a rate of 1000 calls per minute.

The message sounds like this: "This is an urgent message from your local police department. We are currently looking for a missing child that may be in your area..."

And unlike the Amber Alert system, which only is used for stranger abductions and has taken up to three hours in some cases to activate, ACIM is a rapid response system for runaways, Alzheimer's patients, children and college students.

"Let people know in the community you are part of the process. You are going to be part of the process, you are going to get that phone call, and hopefully, you will follow up on whatever information is given to you and you'll call the police back if you see or hear anything," said Beaver County District Attorney Dale Fouse.

If you have a cell phone or an unlisted home number, you can also register those numbers with "A Child is Missing" and they contact you there. All you have to do is log on to their Web site, achildismissing.org.