The word abduction means different things to different people. For purposes of this research, it means
1) The victim was kidnapped.
2) The victim was detained and his/her freedom of movement was restricted.
3) A victim of domestic violence was reported by the family (or someone else) as a missing child.
4) The police were initially of the opinion that the victim was taken or held against her will, whether or not that turned out to be the case in the end.
The major criterion for case
The victims of child abduction murders are very different that other murder victims, who are typically young adult males killed by someone they know. Child abduction murder victims are much more likely to be female children killed by strangers.
1. After the victim has been killed, 52 percent of the bodies are concealed to prevent discovery (than murderers in general (14%).)
2. In only 9% of cases is the body openly placed to insure its discovery.
3. A unique pattern of distance relationships exists in child abduction murders. The initial contact site is within ¼ mile of the victims last known location in 80% of cases.
4. Conversely, the distance between the initial contact site and the murder site increases to distances greater than 1/4 mile (54%).
5. The distance from the murder site to the body recovery site again decreases, to less than 200 feet in 72 percent of cases.