General Motors' OnStar Subsidiary Partners with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children OnStar's 2.5 million subscribers can be good Samaritans in the search for missing children WASHINGTON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors' subsidiary OnStar has joined with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in its efforts to help find missing children. OnStar's Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite and wireless technologies and the expertise of its call center advisors will now serve as the communications link for its 2.5 million subscribers in their efforts to help bring missing children home safely. An OnStar subscriber who wants to report emergency information related to an AMBER Alert or a lost child can press the red OnStar emergency button in his or her vehicle. Immediately, the subscriber will be connected with an OnStar emergency services advisor who will expedite the call to a 911 dispatcher. This unique collaboration marks the first time that an in-vehicle safety communications system using GPS satellite technology and private citizens have teamed up to help NCMEC locate missing children. OnStar's growing subscriber network represents the nation's largest, most technologically advanced fleet of good Samaritans. GM's OnStar, with call centers staffed 24 hours, 365 days a year, is available to subscribers and the nation's 6,000 emergency 911 centers in all 50 states and every Canadian province. "Our partnership with OnStar has just added another 2.5 million sets of watchful eyes on the road in the nation's ongoing efforts to help find missing children," said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. The OnStar-NCMEC alliance will become a key component of OnStar's good Samaritan program, which encourages subscribers to use the OnStar system to make calls on behalf of others in need. All OnStar good Samaritan calls are strictly voluntary, and emergency advisors will not encourage subscribers to endanger themselves by following or confronting a suspect vehicle. Each month, OnStar receives about 8,000 emergency assistance calls, which include 3,000 good Samaritan calls for medical emergencies and crashes involving other motorists. These good Samaritan calls also include AMBER Alerts and calls for missing children. "Clearly, this initiative is a natural extension of OnStar's industry- leading in-vehicle safety and security services," said OnStar President Chet Huber. "When a child is missing, every second counts to increase the likelihood of a safe return. The ability to quickly share critical information with public safety officials can be the difference between a child found and a tragedy." The AMBER program (which stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) is a successful partnership between the nation's law enforcement agencies and radio and television stations to activate emergency bulletins to the public when a child is abducted and believed to be in danger. "It is important to keep in mind that just one lead can result in finding a child," said Allen. "Pressing the red emergency button in an OnStar- equipped vehicle can provide vital information to law enforcement which can lead to the recovery of a missing child." Recognizing OnStar's advanced GPS technology, XM Satellite Radio will encourage listeners who are driving OnStar-equipped vehicles to press the red emergency button to report information related to an AMBER Alert sighting in their area. "XM is proud to support NCMEC and OnStar in providing an important public service that can positively impact the lives of children nationwide," said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. XM provides AMBER Alerts and other important public safety and homeland security notifications on air and printed on the radio display. Through March, General Motors has produced more than one million XM- equipped GM vehicles. General Motors was the first automaker to offer factory-installed XM Satellite Radio, which is currently available in 42 GM models for 2004. About AMBER Alert Today, the AMBER Alert program has grown to 96 communitywide plans, 48 of which are statewide. To date, 133 children have been recovered since the program began in 1996. In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Protect Act, which established a national AMBER Alert Coordinator within the U.S. Department of Justice. [For more information about the national AMBER plan, please visit http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ .] About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children NCMEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which serves as a national clearinghouse for information and a resource for child protection. It works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 225,000 leads. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 95,901 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 80,500 children. [For more information, please visit http://www.missingkids.com/ or call toll-free 1-800-THE-LOST.] About OnStar OnStar, available on more than 50 models from General Motors and select models from six other auto manufacturers, is the nation's leading provider of in-vehicle safety, security and information services using the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite network and wireless technology. OnStar services include automatic notification of air bag deployment, stolen vehicle location assistance, emergency services, roadside assistance with location, remote door unlock, GM Goodwrench remote vehicle diagnostics route support and convenience services. OnStar Personal Calling allows drivers to make and receive hands-free, voice-activated phone calls through a nationwide cellular network and access a wide range of other information services. [Additional information is available at http://www.onstar.com/ .] About XM Satellite Radio XM is America's number one satellite radio service with more than 1.6 million subscribers today. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, D.C., New York City and Nashville, Tenn. at the Country Music Hall of Fame, XM's 2004 lineup includes more than 120 digital channels of choice from coast to coast. [For more information about XM, visit http://www.xmradio.com/ .] DATASOURCE: OnStar CONTACT: Robert Herta of OnStar, +1-248-588-3250, cell: +1-248-320-2413, ; or Lisa Cullen of NCMEC, +1-703-837-6111, Web site: http://media.gm.com/ http://www.gm.com/ http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ http://www.missingkids.com/ http://www.onstar.com/ http://www.xmradio.com/

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