While much of our attention focuses on missing children, thousands of adults are reported missing each year.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation inspired by a Connecticut man, who disappeared in 2004, to help families of missing adults.

The legislation is named after Billy Smolinski of Waterbury, who went missing on August 24, 2004 at the age of 31. Billy's family has experienced many obstacles in searching for their missing son, including the fact that federal law mandates law enforcement report missing children, but not adults or unidentified remains. While law enforcement can voluntarily report this information to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, a lack of resources and knowledge of the system often prevents them from doing so.

Unlike National Amber Alerts, Code Amber publishes real-time official law enforcement reports of missing persons in the US and Canada and maintains a online data base of those cases. While only a small percentage of Missing Persons Reports are actually criminal abductions, the anguish experienced by loved ones is unbearable.

The opportunity to become a watchful spotter is extended to everyone via the Free Code Amber Ticker and “Missing” App for smart phones. Going missing can happen to anyone, anytime, any where.