Child Abduction
When a child mysteriously disappears and is thought to have been taken illegally by someone other than their legal guardian, a criminal investigation begins. Law enforcement agencies attempt to locate the child and return him or her home safely. Next, they try to find the person behind the kidnapping, and recover ransom money if there was any.

Adult Abduction
Although young children and teenagers seem to make up the majority of kidnapping victims, adults can prey on other adults as well.

Family Abduction
Divorced couples often disagree about custody or visitation rights. When spouses can no longer get along or even communicate for the sake of their children, they might do things to hurt their ex. A biological parent can be accused of kidnapping if they violate the custody or visitation agreement. A non-custodial mother or father who keeps the child overnight or takes the child across state borders without the permission of the court is in violation of the law. While physical and sexual abuse are among the crimes reported in non-family or stranger abduction, family abduction can also harm the child. The emotional and psychological trauma of being caught in a war between your parents can be overwhelming for the child. And even if a custodial parent knows the child’s whereabouts, the distress is over how to get their child back home.

Stranger (predatory) Abduction
Anyone who is kidnapped by an unknown person falls into this category. Individuals are strangers even if you’ve seen them before, but don’t know their name or anything about them. Predators often hang around parks, schoolyards and other places that children go. They may even smile, wave or offer you a ride home. The answer to that is ALWAYS, “No thank you”. The kidnapper may physical force or threatens to harm the child, or keep a child in an isolated place for at least an hour. This is done without legal rights or parental permission. A child younger than 15-years-old or a mentally challenged person, who is taken or detained, whether voluntarily or not, is still considered abduction.

Non-family Abduction
This category includes people being taken by someone they know outside of the family. Victims are typically females or teenagers. This makes up the smallest percentage of child abductions; they just may get more media coverage. Babies are also at risk of being taken from their homes or hospital cribs by childless individuals or those who recently lost a baby. Homicide, pornography, forced prostitution, sexual assault and exploitation are crimes often committed against abducted children. When a child is convinced to get into a car, go anywhere with a stranger, or is taken for the purpose of committing another crime without parental consent, this is kidnapping. Parents of these missing children are often left feeling alone, confused, desperate, afraid, and guilty.

International Child Abduction
A child who is kidnapped and taken to another country by someone other than a legal guardian falls under this category. There are laws and agreements with other countries to ensure the safety of child who are victims of international kidnapping. The rights of left-behind parents are also protected. The agreements basically state that the country’s government must return the child (16 years old or younger) to his or her country of primary residence.

Missing Children
When parents, a guardian or someone with legal custody does not know where their child is, the child is missing. This refers to children under the age of 18.

Missing Involuntary
A child whose parents or legal guardian doesn’t know his or her whereabouts, but was not kidnapped falls into this group. This child might be injured, lost, stranded, and therefore is unable to contact the parents, or is too young to remember his or her address, phone number or last name.

Child Endangerment
Family members who unlawfully take a child may be charged with child endangerment along with abduction. This is because more than half of kidnappers have a history of violence, substance abuse or a criminal record. In addition, the well-being of the child is often overlooked. The child might be absent from school for an extended amount of time, deprived of medical care, and is likely to start distrusting the very people who can help them (police and other authorities the abductor is running from). In many states, this crime is considered a felony.

Stereotypical Kidnapping
When most people think of kidnapping, a child being taken by a stranger who either holds the child for ransom, takes him or her far away, or kills the child, comes to mind. Criteria are that the child must be 1) gone overnight; 2) taken 50 or more miles away; 3) held for a ransom (a specified amount of money); 4) murdered; or 5) taken by someone who intends to keep him or her permanently.

Child Identification
There are programs available so parents can store their children’s fingerprints, take a DNA sample, and a wallet card where a picture, thumb print, personal information, and a brief description of the child. Since appearances can change quickly as children age or they can be altered by the abductor, this is important. The National Child Identification Program gives authorities different ways to recognize a child even if the hair or clothes have been changed. These kits come with instructions and are easy to use at home.

Abduction Laws
The majority of law enforcement agencies DO NOT have a written policy on family abduction. This is partly because most people mistakenly think that if a child is with a biological parent or family member, then that child is safe. What they are not aware of is that parents who would do this to a child are likely to have a history of substance abuse, violence or a criminal record.

Some parents will take a child to a state where they can request custody if the court gave sole custody to his or her spouse. A Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act was proposed. This act would reduce the number of family abductions by disallowing parents to seek custody in other states.

Victim Rights
You’ve heard the, “You have the right to remain silent…” speech a thousand times. Seems like criminals have a lot of rights considering they are the ones who committed a crime. But our laws don’t see it that way. You are “innocent until proven guilty”. But what about the rights of victims? Shouldn’t that be a priority so they don’t feel victimized by the legal system?

Visit this page to read about victim rights.