OCT 14, 2019
The facts about child abduction cases in the US
As officers continued to search for Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney nearly two days after she went missing, Chief Patrick Smith of the Birmingham Police Department spoke about how much the disappearance of the 3-year-old girl had had an impact beyond the neighborhood she had grown up in.
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While the exact details of McKinney’s abduction have yet to be revealed, there are studies that point to common trends when it comes to child abduction cases. One aspect is that child abduction cases where strangers kidnap children are very rare.
According to a piece in Reuters, fewer than 350 people under the age of 21 have been abducted by strangers per year in the U.S. since 2010.
This is compared to the active list of 424,066 children considered missing in the country as of 2018.
“From 2010 through 2017, the most recent data available, the number has ranged from a low of 303 in 2016 to a high of 384 in 2011 with no clear directional trend,” Reuters stated.
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What also makes McKinney’s abduction an oddity is her age.
Although girls are the typical victims of abduction than boys, children between the ages of 12 and 17 make up nearly 80 percent of abduction cases.
One of the most notable findings is that with a few exceptions, most missing children, whether they be runaways or those who are abducted, the majority of those who are kidnapped are often found alive. The common data points to only 1 in every 10,000 missing children not being found alive, according to organizations like
Poynter and
Parents.com.
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Within hours of McKinney disappearing, an Amber Alert was issued across Alabama, notifying the public to be on the lookout for her. Since being implemented nationwide in 1996, a total of 957 children have been successfully located.
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