April 15, 2009
A person is kidnapped whenever they are taken illegally by force. Kidnapping is not limited to the acts of strangers but can be committed by acquaintances, romantic partners, or parents who are involved in custody disputes. However, when defining a missing child, the U.S. Department of Justice does not look to see if a child has been kidnapped to determine whether they are missing. As such, it becomes necessary at some point to conceptualize the missing child crisis.
A child can become missing for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they have run away, or there has been a simple misunderstanding about schedules and planned activities. In both of those circumstances the child in question would be reported missing. Further, a child becomes missing when he or she is sought by the police or a missing children’s agency and another report is filled. As such, a missing child report does not necessarily measure the seriousness of the episode. Instead, it measures the caretakers assessment of the need to involve law enforcement.
In America, more than 797,500 are reported missing on average in a single year. Broken down further: 2,185 children are reported missing each and every day. Fortunately, of those reported missing, only a small percent (9%) are victims of either family abductions, or stereotypical kidnappings. Once more, after a further look at the statistics, we find that only 2% of children who go missing are subject to a non-family abductions and 7% have been abducted by family members.
Unfortunately, when a child is kidnapped those figures become increasingly grim. There is typically over a two-hour delay in the initial report of a missing child. Sadly, 74% of those that are murdered are killed within the first three hours of the abduction. There are estimated to be over 100 cases a year where a child is abducted and murdered. These children are generally low risk victims. Most of them, 74%, are girls and 80% of the time the initial contact between child and abductor is generally within 1/4 of a mile from the home.
Over half of the children abducted are taken by a complete stranger. Family involvement is very rare sitting at 9%. Of the females who are abducted, the youngest (1-5 yrs old) are most likely to be killed by friends or acquaintances of the family while the oldest (16-17 yrs old) are usually killed by complete strangers.
