Kevin Andrew Collins
Encyclopedia
Kevin Andrew Collins gained national attention as one of the first missing children to appear on milk cartons and on the cover of national publications, such as Newsweek
magazine in 1984. His abduction from San Francisco city streets helped bring to light the plight of missing and exploited children in America.
Collins was born in San Francisco to David and Ann Collins, a working-class family with nine children. He was a fourth-grader at St. Agnes School in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. His family lived on Sutter Street in the city's Western Addition.
On February 10, 1984, Kevin left early from basketball practice in the school's gymnasium between 6:10 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. One of his older brothers, twelve-year-old Gary, normally would have accompanied Kevin to basketball practice but was home sick that day. Kevin was last seen at approximately 7:55 p.m. at the corner of Oak Street and Masonic Avenue, waiting for the No. 43 bus. Witnesses reported seeing him at the bus stop talking to a tall blonde haired man. He was never seen or heard from again.
Prior to Amber Alert
s, national TV shows (such as America's Most Wanted
) and the World Wide Web
, local news and print advertisements were the only way to inform the general public of a child's disappearance. Following the evening of Kevin's disappearance, posters with his picture were distributed and displayed on telephone poles and storefront windows around San Francisco.
In the days that passed, billboards
, milk cartons, and national magazine covers showing Kevin's picture circulated nationwide as the country searched for the boy. This, along with the development of a 1983 television movie about the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh, helped spark nationwide interest in the plight of missing children. Parents were educated on how to better protect their children from stranger abductions, and law enforcement officials learned how to better coordinate their response to child abductions. The strain of Kevin's disappearance and the search for their son eventually led David and Ann Collins to divorce.
On November 14, 2005, a purported identity thief pleaded guilty to stealing Kevin's name when applying for a passport in his name. Thinking that the case was too old for anybody to remember, he applied using the name "Kevin Andrew Collins" and provided falsified documentation to obtain a passport. A state department employee who was processing the paperwork remembered the Kevin Collins abduction and alerted authorities.
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine in 1984. His abduction from San Francisco city streets helped bring to light the plight of missing and exploited children in America.
Collins was born in San Francisco to David and Ann Collins, a working-class family with nine children. He was a fourth-grader at St. Agnes School in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. His family lived on Sutter Street in the city's Western Addition.
On February 10, 1984, Kevin left early from basketball practice in the school's gymnasium between 6:10 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. One of his older brothers, twelve-year-old Gary, normally would have accompanied Kevin to basketball practice but was home sick that day. Kevin was last seen at approximately 7:55 p.m. at the corner of Oak Street and Masonic Avenue, waiting for the No. 43 bus. Witnesses reported seeing him at the bus stop talking to a tall blonde haired man. He was never seen or heard from again.
Prior to Amber Alert
AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
s, national TV shows (such as America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
) and the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
, local news and print advertisements were the only way to inform the general public of a child's disappearance. Following the evening of Kevin's disappearance, posters with his picture were distributed and displayed on telephone poles and storefront windows around San Francisco.
In the days that passed, billboards
Billboard (advertising)
A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...
, milk cartons, and national magazine covers showing Kevin's picture circulated nationwide as the country searched for the boy. This, along with the development of a 1983 television movie about the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh, helped spark nationwide interest in the plight of missing children. Parents were educated on how to better protect their children from stranger abductions, and law enforcement officials learned how to better coordinate their response to child abductions. The strain of Kevin's disappearance and the search for their son eventually led David and Ann Collins to divorce.
On November 14, 2005, a purported identity thief pleaded guilty to stealing Kevin's name when applying for a passport in his name. Thinking that the case was too old for anybody to remember, he applied using the name "Kevin Andrew Collins" and provided falsified documentation to obtain a passport. A state department employee who was processing the paperwork remembered the Kevin Collins abduction and alerted authorities.