• 800,000 children are reported missing each year. It has been estimated that approximately 1.3 million children go missing each year, but the primary caretakers do not report 500,000 of the episodes (National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, Thrownaway Children: U.S. Department of Justice, October 2002).
• Of the more than 70 million children under the age of 18 in the United States, this translates to: over 1.1% of all children are reported missing each year (1 in 100).

Children Who are at Risk.

• There are no sanctuaries. According to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, the average victim of abduction and murder is an 11 year old girl who is described as a low risk, “normal” child from a middle-class neighborhood who has a stable family relationship and whose initial contact with an abductor occurs within a quarter mile of her home (Hanfland, Keppel, and Weis, 1997).
• Most abductions occur close to the child’s home by someone who has reason to be in the area (they live or work there and may not be viewed as “strangers”).

Ensuring Child Safety

• To enhance the possibility for successful abduction recovery, time is of the essence. Seconds and minutes count.
• The primary responsibility for abduction prevention must fall on parents and other caregivers. While expecting children to protect themselves is unrealistic, children should be taught the basic methodologies and techniques of abduction prevention and the limits of behavior to minimize the risk of abduction.
• A sound family approach is to educate, prepare and then act decisively if a child is missing.
• When a caretaker determines a child is missing, the cause is many times unknown, and decisive action is warranted and should be taken immediately.
• All missing children events pose danger to a child. Rapid and decisive action greatly enhances the chances of safe recovery.

Missing Children Statistics

• Missing Children Episodes are categorized as:
  • Missing Benign Explanation Situations: A child’s whereabouts are not known for over one hour due to a benign episode or reason (communications, forgetfulness, etc.).
  • Missing Involuntarily, Lost or Injured Events: A caretaker is alarmed for over one hour due to the inability to make contact with the child as a result of injury, being lost, being stranded or not having the capability to return home.
  • Runaway Thrownaway Episodes: A child leaves home without permission or the child is asked or told to leave home by a caretaker or person of authority and is prevented from returning home.
  • Family Abductions: In violation of a court custody order, a family member or surrogate fails to return a child to a designated place within one hour of the designated time and the child is concealed or transported out-of-state.
  • Non-Family Abductions: A non-family perpetrator takes a child under threat or force for at least one hour to an isolated place. This category includes Stereotypical Kidnapping, which is considered the more serious type of episode when a child is held overnight at least 50 miles away from home for ransom, for permanent retention or to be murdered.
• 99.8% of missing children have historically been located and returned alive, while 0.2% (2500 missing children annually) are not returned (many are runaways).
• There are more than 10 million children using the Internet today and the number is growing rapidly. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, “last year 705 children were abducted by a mouse” (via the internet). Little education is provided to children concerning Internet child safety and protocol.

Missing or Abducted Child Abuse

• Two-thirds of the cases of Non-family Abductions reported to police, most of which were for relatively short periods, involved sexual assault (Finkelhor, Hotaling, and Sedlak, l990).
• “Megan’s Law” provides the public with photographs and descriptive information on the most serious sex offenders residing in a locality who have been convicted of committing sex crimes and are required to register their whereabouts with local law enforcement. You can obtain sex offender information at your local law enforcement headquarters. Most community residents are very surprised at the number of registered offenders residing in their neighborhoods. “Megan’s Law” is a powerful weapon and should be used to educate your family and children.
• 53% of Family Abductions were perpetrated by the biological father, while 25% were perpetrated by the biological mother.
• Teenagers are by far the most frequent victims of Stereotypical Kidnappings and Non-family Abductions.

The Worst Case Outcome

• According to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, 74% of all abducted children who are murdered each year (approximately 100) are dead within 3 hours of the abduction. Seconds and minutes count.
• In Stereotypical Kidnappings (approximately 115 per year), 56% of the abducted children are recovered alive, 40% are killed, and 4% are never recovered.
• Approximately one child is murdered for every 10,000 reports of a missing child (most of these cases are girls).
• More than half of the child abduction murders are committed by strangers.
• Victims of these murder cases are “average”, low-risk children, leading normal lives, living in normal families. A common reaction is “How could this happen to us?”
  Educate, Prepare & Act Decisively

We urge you to take the necessary steps to ensure your child’s safety.

INPHODENTITY’s KIDSAVE registry child identification is the most powerful and effective approach to meet these family safety needs.

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