Top 3 Reasons for Child Abduction
The United States
Thesis:
The top three reasons for child abduction in the United States are for money or ransom, medical kidnapping, and child custody disputes.
Money and/or Ransom:
When a child is taken to an unknown place to be sold for money.
- Children are sold for someone to make money or to be a slave
- They can be sold for $1,000 to $3,000
- 15% of the children who are taken die while they are being kept in captivity
- 4% of the children are not found because they have been sold or they have died
- People have made $125 million total just from selling children
medical kidnapping:
When a doctor takes a child away from their family and puts the child into an orphanage, foster care, or they are used for drug testing.
- Often times, parents have done nothing wrong, but the doctor believes that's best for the child
- If parents disagree with a doctor on one thing (injury, medicine, diagnosis) they can be charged with child abuse
- Children can be removed by SWAT teams if they don't leave directly from the doctor
- If any person who works at a doctors office sees unusual bruises, broken bones, etc. they are required, by law, to take the child
- When any parent takes a child to the doctor that is under the age of 18, they are being watched very closely
Child Custody Disputes:
When a parent takes the child(ren) without telling the other parent or anyone else where they are taking them.
- 78% of the abductions happen from the non-custodial parent
- 2,000 children are taken each year
- 81% of the 2,000 children are 12 years old or younger
- The children could be missing for months or years
- In most cases, once the police finds out, the child is not gone for long