The Missing or Abducted Child
Many predators are attracted to under-aged children and hunt them as prey, but some use a slower, grooming method for gaining control over children. So far, a means of curing or stopping predators is unknown, so it's imperative to find missing children quickly.
Stranger Versus Known Abductor
Most investigators who search for abducted children no longer make a great distinction between the stranger abductor and the known abductor. One reason is that children — and even parents — have difficulty making that distinction. Who is the stranger? Is it the neighbor who walks his dog in front of the house every day? Is the landscape worker or housekeeper a stranger? Is the clerk at the local store? The insurance salesman? The maintenance man?
Yes and no. They may not be the family's closest friends, but neither are they total strangers to parent or child. Some call this type the acquaintance abductor. These familiar fixtures in the lives of families aren't likely to appear sinister. People feel that they know someone who is often around, yet behind the smiling dog walker's exterior could beat the heart of a predator. Furthermore, statistics show that these — and persons even closer to families — are the most likely abductors of children. Doctors, teachers, scout leaders, school bus drivers, preachers, priests, coaches — even baby-sitters, friends, and relatives abuse children. What's worse, abusers often choose a profession that brings them close to under-aged children.
Stranger abduction of children, while always a horrible possibility, isn't the most likely scenario. When it does happen, however, research reveals that it's most likely to end badly; victims of stranger abduction are most at risk of sexual assault, injury, or death.
Because the abuser can be anyone in a child's life, experts no longer recommend that parents stress “stranger danger” as much as in the past. A different approach must be taken to prepare children for anyone who treats them in ways that invade their personal space, cause them fear, or require them to do things they don't want to do.
Missing Child Timeline
Most of the time, missing children return home or are located. It's the ones who don't return, children who aren't found — or are found too late — that haunt those who search for them. Statistics differ as to how long a child is likely to live after being abducted, and all of them are disheartening. Because there's no way of knowing the abductor's ultimate goal in taking a child, the worst outcome must be assumed from the outset, with every search proceeding as if the child has very little time to live.
Twelve-year-old Polly Klaas was abducted at knifepoint from a slumber party in her California home in 1993. She was found dead sixty-five days later. Her father, Marc Klaas, formed KlaasKids (
One of the first steps to take when a child is missing is to check the whereabouts of registered sex offenders within a specified distance of the child's home or place of abduction. When located, they're interviewed, and any alibis for the child's estimated time of disappearance or death are checked. The problem is that many sex offenders have never registered. Others provide bogus addresses or move frequently without reregistering. There's also the offender who is yet to be caught — the one who has never been charged and no record exists. He's out there but no one knows who, or where, he is.
Federal and State Responses
One of the most expedient measures put in place in recent years is the Amber Alert. In 1996, nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted from her Arlington, Texas, neighborhood while riding her bicycle. Her body was found four days later in a drainage ditch, four miles from her home. Though a neighbor provided a description of the driver who pulled Amber off her bike and into his truck, her killer has never been found. Despite her grief, Amber's mother fought for a change in the law. Because of her efforts, an early warning system is now in place in most states for missing children.
For more information, go to the U.S. Department of Justice's Amber Alert Web site at
In 2006, special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Crimes Against Children Task Force warned that, according to recent statistics, 74 percent of all abducted children who are murdered are killed within the first three hours. These staggering numbers punctuate the reason that expedient measures must be taken when a child goes missing.
Individual states are trying to establish measures to protect children from dangerous predators. In 2003, nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a convicted but unregistered sex offender. In response to public outcry, thirty-three states passed some form of Jessica's Law, which proposed stricter sentencing guidelines for first-time sexual offenders.
The Missing Adolescent
Adolescents are neither children nor adults. They inhabit a world in between the two, a world filled with hormones, lack of experience, curiosity, and feelings of immortality. It's a difficult time for parents who seek to protect them and prevent impulsive mistakes.
The Involuntarily Missing Adolescent
Adolescents go missing for numerous reasons, but recent years have seen an increase in adolescents who leave after meeting someone they have made contact with on the Internet. These adolescents don't always intend to leave home permanently, but when they find that their online buddy is suspicious, it's usually too late. Some adolescents have been sold or kept as sex slaves, some are released after differing stages of abuse, and some are never seen alive again.
Cyber-sleuths from the FBI's computer forensics division are called in to help solve computer-related crimes. They analyze hard drives and recover information about chat rooms, e-mails, social networking sites, and instant messaging. Young people are inquisitive and can be drawn into online activities without being able to recognize the danger, and without the resources to protect themselves. They just don't see that the kid on their computer screen, the one who understands them and all their problems, could be a big hairy guy waiting to make his move.
The Peachtree City, California, police department has a secret weapon — Heather Lackey, Internet undercover officer. She enters chat rooms as a thirteen-year-old girl and reports that she consistently attracts predators within minutes. The first thing she's asked is whether anyone is around. Predators try to ensure that parents aren't around to view what they say to children. Therefore, parents must maintain the family computer in the family room — never in an area where the child or adolescent can use it alone. Additionally, investigators must be vigilant in finding new methods of catching these cyber-predators.
The world holds many dangers. Today's youth see a culture of alcohol, drugs, violence, risk-taking, and criminal behavior as not only desirable but preferable to the seemingly staid, boring lifestyle of their parents. This culture's faux glitter can lure unsuspecting teens to a place where predators lie in wait. Regardless of whether they have a happy home life, teens can be drawn into this fake world looking for excitement, love, money, or whatever they feel is lacking in their lives. It takes skill, determination, and grit to search for these children, and those who do it consider it a mission. Private investigators with a talent for computers may decide to specialize in these cases. The Internet has opened a dark new world to inquisitive children and is a continual threat to their safety. Investigators willing to enter this world may rescue some of these kids or prevent others from being sucked into it. Chapter 16 has more information on computer crime investigation and cyber-sleuths.
The Voluntarily Missing or Runaway Adolescent
Sometimes, information regarding a missing adolescent's motivation and clues as to her destination can be found online. Kids post material to such sites as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. Whether from immaturity or an unrealistic expectation of privacy, they write things on these sites as if no one but friends will see them.
Because of this, law enforcement officers routinely monitor these social networking sites, and although some members have wised up and are using code, critical information is still available. If the runaway has a Web page, it may provide the investigator with clues to his motivation for running, which can lead to his location. The Urban Dictionary (
