For parents, nothing is more important than the safety and security of their children. They do everything they can to provide their children with the best life possible.
Therefore, it can be incredibly stressful when a child goes missing. Even though parents may lose track of their child in a grocery store, may not know exactly where they are when they go to hang out with friends, and might even let teenagers go out on their own, most parents still have a general idea of where their children are located and what they are doing.
When parents truly have no idea where their child is located, this can be overwhelming. Fortunately, missing children in the United States almost always make it home alive.
Most Children Make It Home Alive
The reality is this: more than 99 percent of children who go missing eventually come home alive. Thanks to technological advances in the way searches are conducted, and much greater awareness when it comes to quick action, the overwhelming majority of children who go missing are eventually recovered.
In 1990, just 62 percent of children who went missing were recovered alive. In 2011, that rate had risen to 97 percent. Now, the rate is over 99 percent. This includes not only high-risk cases but also abductions by a stranger or family member who might be wanted on an arrest warrant. This rapid increase in successful recoveries has served as solace to the countless parents who deal with missing children every year.
So, how many childrehn go missing every year in the United States. Every year, approximately 800,000 children are reported missing. This includes children who might be injured, lost, run away from home and those who are abducted.
Out of the children who are abducted, approximately 200,000 are taken by family members. Usually, this takes place during a custody battle.
Approximately 58,000 children who go missing involve non-members. These are usually people who are familiar with the child but have targeted that child for one reason or another. This could include someone who befriends the child over a long amount of time, a next-door neighbor, or even a friend of some sort.
Even if the abduction is performed by a stranger, this usually is perpetrated by someone who has studied the child for an extended amount of time. They understand where the child goes, how the child behaves, and how the child responds to certain situations.
If they are able to learn the schedule of the child, they can increase their chances of successfully abducting the child. In many cases, a child abduction is more an act of seduction than abduction. The child usually goes willingly with the adult in an effort to avoid drawing attention to the scene.
That is why it is important for parents to think carefully about who their child to spending time with. That way, they can reduce their chances of their child being groomed and abducted by someone.
How To React When a Child Goes Missing
And parents realized that their child has gone missing, this can be an incredibly stressful experience. The first thing those parents want to do is to hit the streets and start looking for their children. After all, they know their child, that knows how their child behaves, and they know where their child might go.
Even though this is a normal got response, it is always better to work with a professional law enforcement agency. A professional agency has the tools and training necessary to recover children as quickly as possible.
Parents who need help networking with law enforcement agencies, particularly in the event of international parental kidnapping, to take a look at the resources that are available from The Committee for Missing Children. That way, parents understand that this is not something they have to go through on their own.
The most important thing parents have to remember is that they need to listen to the law enforcement professionals. For example, law enforcement professionals are going to do a lot of things at once because they have the manpower to do exactly that.
Law enforcement professionals are going to use technology to take a look at who the child might have been interacting with online. Parents do not know everything their children do on the internet. Take me to look at their internet history can be a great place to get started.
It is also important to get as many pictures out there as quickly as possible. When people have some idea of what the child looks like, they can keep their eyes open as well. For example, pictures might be placed on shopping bags, toll booths, billboards, and even in some of the major shopping buildings.
The more people who see the picture, the better. Law enforcement professionals have the manpower to get pictures up as quickly as possible. This will get people looking for the child, increasing the chance of the child being recovered alive.
Ultimately, the most important reason my parents need to rely on law enforcement professionals is that time is of the essence. The numbers show that the percentage chance of successfully recovering a missing child drops with every hour that goes by.
Therefore, it is important to cast a net as quickly as possible to prevent the child from getting away from the immediate geographical area. Law enforcement professionals understand how to blitz the streets quickly in order to find a missing child.
That is why parents should reach out to law enforcement professionals as quickly as possible when they realize that their child has gone missing. This will maximize their chances of recovering their child.
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