I remember there were days when my kids got a little miffed that I didn't allow them online. Luckily, cell phones at that time didn't have WIFI, and I refused to buy another computer for the house- we only had one, and believe me, I was strict, I even took the box into my room and hid it so they couldn't get on the internet.
Well one of my friends thought i was ridiculous, letting her daughter on all hours of the day and night on her own computer. Thank goodness, my friend's live in boyfriend answered the phone one day- a man, who sounded like he was in his 40's, called looking for my friend's daughter, who was only almost 15 at the time. Her boyfriend, after talking to the man, found out that he pretended to be a 17 year old boy on the teen site she frequented, and she was planning on going to the mall with this guy, she was completely innocent. Back then, it was harder to trace these animals, but my friend's BF scared him off, threatening to kill him if he dared to show up.
Not too long ago, my kids, all in their early to late 20's, talked about this with us during dinner, saying they were grateful that I was so strict and didn't allow them online hardly at all- only for school work, and believe me, that computer was within my sight to be sure. They hear all these stories of girls and boys disappearing and it makes them shudder, how many of them meet these charmers online.
At one time, my parent's generation used the TV as a babysitter. Today's parents use the kids computers and cell phones as babysitters. At least with the TV, many of us didn't disappear...........
I hope this darling girl is found safe and sound soon. My heart is breaking for her and her parents. She sounds like she was all excited to meet a nice boy her age, only to have this sick jerk pick her up instead. I wonder, did he use an alias with her to draw her out to him some place, or did she see him on his FB post and was enamored with an older man paying attention to her?
