Missing Children Epidemic by Elizabeth Boots

An epidemic, by definition, is a disease that affects many persons at the same time, and spreads from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent (“Epidemic” 1). When referring to the epidemic of missing children, a better definition means the rapid increase or prevalence in something (“Epidemic” 1). Last year, 424,066 children were reported missing in the US (“About NCMEC” 1).  It is a very serious problem when children go missing. They either run away, get abducted (usually by a family member), or they just wandered off or got separated from family. It is estimated that one in seven runaways get caught in sex trafficking (“About NCMEC” 1).  If a child is abducted, it is necessary to act immediately. If an abducted child is not found in the first three hours, they will most likely die (Bilich 1). Imagine if this was your child, would you be devastated? You would want to find ways to keep all children safe, wouldn’t you?

              The missing children epidemic is nothing new; for centuries children have gone missing. However, Charley and Walter Ross were the first documented case of being kidnapped for a ransom in the US. They were kidnapped in early July of 1874 when they were four and six years old (“The story of Charley Ross” 1). After taking the children in their buggy, the captors left Walter in a store with money to buy fire crackers, but they took Charley with them (“The story of Charley Ross” 1). They left ransom notes to his parents. The first said things such as, “You wil hav to pay us,” “no powers on earth can deliver out of or hand,” “ if any aproch is maid to his hidin place that is the signil for his instant anihilation” (“The story of Charley Ross” 1). To this day, no one knows the whereabouts of Charley Ross (“The story of Charley Ross” 1).     

Since the case of Charley Ross, many acts have been passed for the safety and welfare of children. In 1892, the “Children’s Charter” was passed. This allowed the state police to arrest abusive parents (Batty1). This act also restricted child labor and illegalized begging among children (Batty1). In 1894, the act improved and it now allowed children to provide evidence in court, mental cruelty towards children became recognized, denying a sick child medical care also became an offence (Batty1). As time passed, many more regulations were made, and are still being made to protect children from harm.

On March first 1932, the famous Lindbergh family was supposed return to their home, the Morrow Mansion, from the Hopewell Mansion (“Who killed the Lindbergh’s baby?” 1). However, baby Charles Lindbergh Junior was ill, so Anne Lindbergh, his mother, decided it would be unwise for him to travel, so the family decided to stay at the Hopewell Mansion until he recovered. Between 8 and 10 PM that night, a homemade ladder was placed up against baby Charles’s window (“Who killed the Lindbergh’s baby?” 1). The intruder climbed up the ladder, and Charles Lindbergh was never seen alive again. A ransom note requesting $50,000 was placed on his windowsill (“Who killed the Lindbergh’s baby?” 1).The ransom was paid, and directions were given to the Lindbergh’s to lead them to Charles. When they went to go collect their baby, they had found him dead with head trauma (“Who killed the Lindbergh’s baby?” 1). Later, John Hauptman would be arrested for the crime (“Who killed the Lindbergh’s baby?” 1).

Before 1974, the missing children epidemic has been a serious cause for concern. Policemen and law enforcement would assist cases of child abductions and children who have gotten lost (Barnard et al. 5). However, runaway cases, especially those that involved teenagers, were left for the parents, teachers, and other adults in the child’s life to solve (Barnard et al. 5). After Charles Lindbergh’s death, taking a kidnapped person across state lines became punishable by death. This is also known as the Federal Kidnapping Act (Augustyn et al. 1).

On a cold February evening in 1957, the body of a two year old child was found in a JC Penny box with an old, plaid blanket in Philadelphia (Moore 51, 62). His body was bruised and malnourished. His nails were clipped short, and his hair was roughly shaved after his death, in order to better conceal his identity. The chilly weather had made it difficult to identify the exact date of his death, as the cold preserved the body (Moore 51, 62). Detectives have created images that would depict what he would have looked like if he was alive, healthy, had longer hair, and if he were clothed to see if anyone would identify him. (Moore 51, 62).They had examined his teeth, finger prints, and mitochondrial DNA to determine his background, and to determine his possible mother (Moore 51, 62). Even though his date of death is unknown, it is estimated that he had died two days to two weeks before he was found. To this day, no one knows who had killed and/or abused him, nor do we know his name (Moore 51, 62).

Modern instances of missing children include the cases of Betsabe Perez and DeOrr Kunz Jr. Born on January 9, 2006, Betsabe Perez had been missing since September 9, 2019 (“Betsabe Perez” 1). She was abducted by nineteen year old Erik Diaz in Del Rio, Texas. Texas Law enforcement said that she is in grave or immediate danger. Her Amber Alert notification was issued on October 7, 2019, and she was found October 9, 2019 (“Betsabe Perez” 1). On Thursday July 9, 2015, a family was camping in Leadore, Idaho with two year old DeOrr Kunz Jr. (Bowerman 1). They decided to stop at the creek near the camp ground for a few minutes. The boy was with his great grandfather when he went missing. The parents, who were a short ways upstream, went to go get DeOrr, to show him some fish; they then realized he wasn’t with his great grandfather. His great grandfather had noticed him missing, and he had assumed that he had went back up to his parents who were only 150 feet away (Bowerman 1). When they couldn’t find him, they called the police. The sheriff of Lemhi County notes that there were bears and wolves running in the camp grounds and park during his searches. He notes that “They had taken out some of the wolves to eliminate the problem” (Bowerman 1). However, the sheriff also says that there was an older man at the creek that had been watching DeOrr. The sheriff also says they brought canines to help sniff out the boy. While the dogs were tracking, the sheriff claims that someone unknowingly dumped the remains of a deceased loved one in the creek where the boy had gone missing, and this had attracted the dogs’ attention. (Bowerman 1). Despite modern technology and the best efforts to locate missing children, leads can be dead ended and cover ups may be too good to continue searches.

 “Each year over 200,000 children are abducted by family members” (“Preventing Family Abductions” 1). There are multiple reason why a child can be abducted by a family member. Usually, that family member is the parent of the missing child. The parent may want more custody over the child, the parent believes that the child is in danger from the other parent or legal guardians, or to anger the other parent” (“Preventing Family Abductions” 1). Another type of abduction is an acquaintance abduction; this is done by a person in a child’s life, but not a family member. The victims of these adductions are usually female adolescents. The victims of acquaintance abductions will often be injured and assaulted (“What You Should Know about Child Abductions” 1). Lastly, the final type of abduction is the stranger abduction, neither the child nor the family will know the abductor. Primarily, these abductors take school aged children. The criminals will try to take the children while they are going to and from school activities events, or while they socialize outside (“Nonfamily Abduction and Attempts” 1). They will use treats, money, animals, and other offers to tempt the children. This type of abduction is only 1% of the reasons why children go missing (“Nonfamily Abduction and Attempts” 1).

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of children to several million children go missing globally each year (“Missing Children’s Statistics” 1). This is very large, because not all countries keep accurate, or any records at all regarding to missing children, incorrect information is spread, or information is deleted when a case closes (“Missing Children’s Statistics” 1). However, in the US it is estimated that over 400,000 children go missing annually (“About NCMEC” 1). There are many reasons why children go missing, these include running away, family abductions, nonfamily abductions, getting lost, kidnapped, separated, or wandering (toddlers and young children). “An ‘Endangered runaway’ is a child that is under 18 years old who has run away from a parent, guardian, or state care facility. According to the National Runaway Safeline, between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away each year in the U.S” (1800Runaways 1). The difference between a kidnapping and an abduction is when the perpetrator expresses a reason for their offence, and they transport the person across state lines (“Difference between Abduction and Kidnapping” 1). Children that go missing have a very high rate of being found, a 97% chance, however, that 3% chance of never being found is too large (Missing Kids 1). We cannot stop looking for missing children until they have a 100% success rate of being found.

Every forty seconds a child goes missing (Bilich 1). According to the National center for missing and exploited children, this tallies up to about 424,066 missing children a year (“About NCMEC” 1). It is important to end the epidemic of missing children. Not only can a child’s life be ruined when he or she goes missing, but it also causes grief, anxiety, distraught, and pain to the parents and family of that child. Several organizations exist to bring missing children home, and there are many well-known solutions to prevent children from going missing.

 There are some things a parent can do to keep their child from going missing. Parents should include a flexible plan for when they cannot be with their child on an outing, or while a child is unattended. Parents should know who the child is with, where they will go, when they should check in, and arrive home if the child leaves the home by themselves. Parents need to make sure children know safe areas and homes to go to if they sense danger. Making sure a child is understanding of common tricks a perpetrator may use to lure the child will greatly reduce stranger abductions. Informing children of internet safety before letting them explore the web and other social media sites is necessary for their protection. Parents also need to make sure they know not to state real names, home addresses, and other pieces of vital information (Jones 1).

An ID bracelet is a strategy that is used in case someone finds a missing child (“Road ID Kids Collection” 1). An ID bracelet is like a normal bracelet, but it provides a child’s name and the parent’s phone number. The child’s information can be printed on metal, and put on a metal chain, or it can be simple beaded bracelet with lettered beads. When someone finds your child, they can call your phone number.

Not only can we prevent children from going missing, there are multiple organizations that work to bring missing children home. Code Adam, or Automated Delivery of Alerts on Missing Children, was developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after the abduction and murder of six year old Adam Walsh (“Code Adam” 1). Code Adam searches for children that went missing in a public building by blocking exits and entrances until the child is found. If the child is not found under ten minutes then law enforcement is notified (“Code Adam” 1). Code Adam was created in 1994, and since then it has helped bring over 180 children home (“Code Adam” 1). Amber Alert is a governmental organization that is used in all fifty US states, every US territory, and twenty seven other countries (“Amber Alert” 1). Originally, it was developed to locate a missing girl in the Dallas and Fort Worth area (“Amber Alert History” 1). Now Amber Alerts are sent on cellphones and files are published on Facebook if it is confirmed that the missing child in question is seventeen years old or younger, was abducted, that there is descriptive information of the child, captor, and the captor’s vehicle, along with other information if present ( “Amber Alert” 1). If a child’s case is put on Amber Alert, then an FBI case will be published for that child (“Amber Alert” 1).

Despite all the measures a parent will make to keep their child safe, they will still go missing. To combat this, there are multiple steps that can be taken in order to bring a missing child home. When a child is first noticed missing, it is vital that local law enforcement is notified immediately by the people that the child is with (Jones, 1). Information about the appearance of the child (age, gender, height, weight, hair and eye color, clothes and accessories they were wearing, and any scars or birthmarks they have), and the location where the child was last seen should be provided (“What To Do If Your Child Goes Missing: Parents, Know These Facts”, 1). Next, thoroughly look for the child in areas that they can easily crawl into and hide. It is important to not move far from the area your child last saw you, in case they come back looking for you (“What To Do If Your Child Goes Missing: Parents, Know These Facts” 1). Moving anything that a child has touched in their home can contaminate evidence. It is also helpful if a parent can organize search parties to help search for the child (“What to Do If Your Child Goes Missing: Parents, Know These Facts”, 1).

It is estimated that around 400,000 children go missing in the United States each year (“About NCMEC” 1). It is also estimated that over 800,000 children go missing globally each year (Lehnardt 1). In contradiction, Evansdale, Iowa reports that 800,000 children go missing in the US alone (Wilde 1). However, depending on which children’s organization that is viewed, statistics may contradict each other. Different organizations have different ways on keeping track of missing children. According to the FBI, 765,000 children go missing a year (“FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children” 1). On top of that, many countries have different or no policies on keeping track of missing children, this also leads to an inaccurate number (“Missing Children’s Statistics” 1). In order to keep proper track of missing children, a global organization could be developed and any and all cases of missing children be kept there. Children’s agencies can talk about and make plans for keeping children safe.

According to Albert Camus, “life is absurd”, however, the epidemic of missing children is not absurd (“Albert Camus Quotes” 1). Absurdity is the quality or state of being ridiculous or wildly unreasonable (“Absurdity” 1). When children go missing, there is some pattern or reasoning as to why they go missing. A child may want to escape a home that they think does not provide for their needs, a stranger may take a child to gain monetary leverage over a family, a parent may make noncustodial charge over their child in order to make the other parent jealous (“Runaways” 1; “What You Should Know about Child Abductions” 1; “Preventing Family Abductions” 1). There are statistics and records that show definite rates and types of abductions, kidnappings, runaways, and wanderings. There are successful and repetitive solutions that recover missing children. There are many techniques for keeping children safe in unfamiliar areas, perceptive of their surroundings and people, and maintaining a safety plan in the instance that the child becomes lost.

Albert Camus says, “Children will still die unjustly even in a perfect society. Even by his greatest effort, man can only propose to diminish, arithmetically, the sufferings of the world” (“Albert Camus Quotes about Children” 1). This means that no matter what we do to keep our children safe, people will find ways to harm them. Camus often writes about finding a purpose in life, and I believe that reuniting children with their families is a purpose that Camus will strive for in life. Camus also says, “Against eternal injustice, man must assert justice, and to protest against the universe of grief, he must create happiness (“Good Quotes” 1). According to Camus, we must find a way to end grief and bring about happiness. A simple way to do this is to bring missing children home.
            Overall, there are many ways to solve the epidemic of missing children. There are proven methods of keeping children safe, and it is vital that parents take advantage of these methods in order to keep their children safe. There are organizations that are dedicated to bringing home missing children. Currently, we may not be able to recover every child unaccounted for, however, ninety seven percent of all children that go missing are recovered (“About NCMEC” 1). With the resources available to parents and communities, modern technology, and further research we can turn that two digit number recovery rate into a solid 100% recovery rate.

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