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Utah stores practice ‘Code Adam’ to find missing children

Posted at 11:39 AM, Jul 28, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-28 13:46:11-04

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - It is something almost every parent has experienced and never wants to again.

You're in a store shopping when you turn around and your child is gone.

Law enforcement officials say, once a child is missing, timing is everything.

So employees at a local grocery store chain are going through training on what to do when a child disappears.

The test moved quickly Tuesday and store employees were able to find the missing child about 90 seconds into the drill.

Smith's uses the "Code Adam" procedure which notifies all employees about the missing child.

Then all employees go to the doors, bathrooms and toy and candle aisles to look for the child.

"Code Adam" is named for 6-year-old Adam Walsh who went missing from a Sears store in Florida in 1981.

He was later found dead and his father, John Walsh, pushed for the campaign.

About 2,500 Kroger stores use "Code Adam" today.