Spring Into Safety was conceived in response to the need to create prevention and education programs for children to reduce risk of abduction and exploitation. The creator, Autumn Geist-Lombardo initially became involved with Rachelfind, a volunteer organization designed to keep missing teen, Rachel Mellon Skemps’ name in the public eye.

Through this association Mrs. Geist-Lombardo discovered the critical severity of this problem and sought ways to reverse the growing numbers of occurances among children. She became a trained search and rescue volunteer and was introduced to Craig Akers, father of then missing, Shawn Hornbeck.

With other critical organization members Karen Fakroddin (also a trained “Search and Rescue” volunteer), Shana Prymicz-McGarry, and Stephanie Trussell, the program continues with new volunteers joining each year.

Spring Into Safety is offered for FREE and is open to the public each year. The spring season was chosen because it is when children’s outdoor play and activity increases. The program is intended to give children practical skills to escape or respond to potentially dangerous situations. The reality is that each year, there are over 797,500 children reported missing each year. Only 203,000 are noncustodial parent abductions. The risk is clear so we cannot afford not to educate and empower our children.

“Prepare the child for the path…

not the path for the child”