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Abduction Statistics

Your Guide to Child Abduction Statistics

Your Guide to Child Abduction Statistics

The public impression of child abduction is often exaggerated due to the nature of around-the-clock media cycles that requires breaking stories at a constant pace. About 2,000 children are reported missing every day in the United States. However, most of these cases were solved within hours. These cases were generally not serious. 
Family child abduction is the most common form of abduction in the United States. In fact, nearly half of child abductions are by a parent or other family relative and are not considered serious risks to the safety of the child. 
More than 25 percent of child abductions are by an acquaintance of a child. Fewer than one quarter of all abductions are by a stranger. 80 percent of child abductions by strangers occur within a quarter mile of the child’s home. Only one in every 10,000 missing child reports ends with the death of a child. Most stranger kidnappings are committed by males aged 20-40 years old.
As you can see, the fear of American parents over the danger of child abduction and the exaggerated risk of the crime affecting their family is over-emphasized. Most abductions are by people close to the child.
In the past, parents preached safety against “stranger danger.” Today, most child abductions are by family members and other people that the child knows. The vast majority of these abductions were not serious, with most children being recovered quickly. 
Abductions by family members are more than three times more common than stranger abductions. The increasing number of divorces and the relative ease of international travel has led to an increase in parental child abduction rates, especially international child abduction.
The state of child abduction in the United States is often misunderstood. About 50 percent of abductions are committed by family members. As such, the abducted child is usually returned to the rightful parent(s) physically unharmed. 
Less than 5 percent of stranger abductions have led to a complete disappearance of the child. The overwhelming majority of all abductions lasted less than 24 hours. For non-family abductions, one third of the abductions last less than 3 hours. In non-stranger abductions, the child is returned 99 percent of the time unharmed. Stranger abductions are more dangerous, as only 57 percent of children were returned safely.
Understanding that only a small percentage of child abduction cases are by strangers should help Americans understand that the large majority of cases end with the child’s safety intact.

Facts You Need to Know About The Country Wide Child Abduction Statistics

Facts You Need to Know About The Country Wide Child Abduction Statistics

Each year, 800,000 missing children, approximately 2,000 children every day, are reported to local law enforcement agencies and the FBI. Most of these cases were solved within hours or cases that were not serious (such as an overstay with a particular parent).
Every 40 seconds, a child becomes missing or abducted. In comparison, every three seconds, a child is admitted to an emergency room.
Family child abduction is the most common form of abduction in the United States. Almost half of child abductions are kidnappings by a parent or other family relative. These abductions are generally not serious.
More than 25 percent of child abductions are by an acquaintance of the child, generally involving a high percentage of juveniles. This type of abduction carries the highest percentage of injuries.
Less than one quarter of child abductions are by a stranger, with more girls being abducted than boys. This type of abduction is the most dangerous. Approximately 80 percent of child abductions by strangers occur within 1/4 of a mile of the child’s home. Roughly 75 percent of abduction murders occur within 3 hours after the child goes missing. 
An overwhelming majority of acquaintance or stranger child abductions victimize girls. More parents fear their child being abducted than they fear car accidents or any other crime against their children.
Only one in every 10,000 missing child reports result in the death of the child. The overwhelming majority of non-family child abductions (80 percent) are motivated by sexual intentions. 
The chance that a child is kidnapped and murdered stands at about 1 in every 347,000. 90 percent of stranger kidnappings are committed by males aged 20-40 years old. Less than 5 percent of children kidnapped by strangers are never found, while 99 percent of abductions committed by a family member or acquaintance result in reunification of child and parent.
As these child abduction statistics show, the fear felt by parents about the subject of child abduction, while understandable, is exaggerated. Most American child abductions are by parents or family members. Parents should understand that teaching their children to be safe and maintaining parental supervision, especially of younger children, is the best they can do to prevent child abduction affecting their family.

What Are The Trends in Child Abduction

What Are The Trends in Child Abduction

High profile cases of child abduction have dominated media and the minds of the American people. The amount of coverage and recognition that these high profile cases carry have led to a general consensus that child abductions by strangers are common and present a risk to all unsupervised or hapless children.
However, trends in child abductions show that this is not the case. In the United States, most cases of child abduction are not by strangers. Contrary to popular belief, most cases of child abduction are by family members of the child.
Statistics for child abduction are often misleading. For example, while the number of serious child abduction cases is remaining relatively low, the numbers of such cases are in fact declining.
Today, most child abductions are by family members, mostly parents. The vast majority of these abductions were not serious, with most children being recovered quickly. In the past, parents preached safety when talking to strangers. Today, this stranger safety education has proven less useful, as the large majority of children are taken by people they know.
Abductions by family members are more than three times more common than stranger abductions, according to the Department of Justice. The increase in the number of divorces has led to a large increase in parental child abductions. In many of these cases, the child is brought into another country. International child abduction has grown to become more of a problem as a result of increased ease of international travel. 
There is no evidence of a growth in stranger child abductions nor is there evidence for a growth in child abductions in general. Only parental and family child abductions has seen an empirical growth.
The typical impression of child abduction, especially in the United States, is that stereotypical stranger abductions are common. The truth is, however, that child abduction today mostly revolves around people whom the child knows. With the increased ease of travel and the growing number of divorces, child abductions are experiencing a statistical trend towards family abductions and away from stranger child abductions.