Child abduction is something most American parents live in constant fear of. Children are not only kidnapped by strangers but even by people they know and are fairly comfortable with, thus making parental concern over this menace a justified one.
As per the FBI and the US Department of Justice, about 800,000 children under the age of 18 are reported missing every year, and almost 50 percent of all kidnappings involve family members. 80 percent of child kidnappings are for sexual reasons, irrespective of whether they have been done by strangers or acquaintances.
In 1990, the US Justice Department had reported that out of every 10,000 missing children, at least one child was found dead. In 1999, a study was conducted by the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children or NISMART. It revealed that more than 70 percent of kidnapping done by strangers happened in parks or playgrounds, and only 7 percent took place in public places like shopping malls. Almost 90 percent of these crimes were committed by males in the age group 20 to 40. Less than 60 percent of the time the abducted child was found alive, but 4 percent of these children were never found at all.
Another chilling fact is that most child abductions involve a family member or a friend; hence it is difficult for parents to be forewarned and thus save their kids from possible abduction. Girls are more susceptible to non-family abductions, and almost 74 percent of victims of such abductions have been subjected to sexual assault.