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WHAT ARE THE RISKS TO YOUR CHILD
facts and figures on child abductions
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Children of every age, gender, and race are vulnerable to child abduction.
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Approximately 203,900 children were abducted in 1999 in "family abductions" in which a family member was trying to deprive a caretaker of custodial rights.
- – 98% of these children returned home.
– None of these children were killed.
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There were approximately 58,200 "non-family abductions" in 1999. Abductions in this category involved forcibly moving or detaining the child for a relatively short period of time, usually in connection with another crime.
- – 99% of these children returned home.
– Only 115 of these were the most serious and dangerous types of
abductions—those perpetrated by strangers where the child was kept
overnight, held for ransom, or killed.
- – Almost 60% of these children were returned safely.
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When the abductor is unrelated to the child, the abductor is just as likely to be someone known to the child or family as to be a stranger.
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Be Alert: Over 50% of the children kidnapped in non-family abductions were taken from the street, in a vehicle, or from a park or wooded area. Almost 75% of those children kidnapped in family abductions were taken from their own or another’s home or yard.
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