Missing kids

[gumball37]

AIBU to think that more kids than we think, who are abducted, are raised rather than abused/murdered?

I think it's being hopeful rather than unreasonable to think that.

@MyShinyWhiteTeeth

I think it's being hopeful rather than unreasonable to think that.

I definitely hope it.

Unfortunately you are being unreasonable.

I'm not sure all that many kids are actually 'abducted' tbh.

Children go missing all the time, of course, but the overwhelming majority are children who disappear off their own back.

Quick google suggests the number of children abducted by strangers in the UK is roughly 50 or so per year. Total 'abductions' reported are of course much higher, but the bulk of those are people complaining that a partner has 'abducted' the child rather than a stranger.

What makes you say that?

Are you musing on the Madeleine McCann news?

I think we’ve all become very misled about how many missing children are missing at any one time. After the MM case the number of children who were reported missing each year was given much more prominence, but in some ways that is extremely misleading.

@ArriettyJones

What makes you say that?

Are you musing on the Madeleine McCann news?

I think we’ve all become very misled about how many missing children are missing at any one time. After the MM case the number of children who were reported missing each year was given much more prominence, but in some ways that is extremely misleading.

Yes that was what lead me down the line of thinking

Sadly, I think most abductees are killed within 48 hours of being taken. I think that’s pretty well established. Happily, stranger abduction and/or child murder is really very rare.

There have been a small number of cases in which abductees have been held for years but those have mostly happened in the US (so a specific geographical, social, legal background) and I don’t think you could describe those cases as the children being “raised” by the kidnappers. The reality of those situations was much darker.

Some missing persons organisations have been very keen to emphasise the outlier cases (that some children are held for years and eventually return) and some organisations have been keen to publicise the number of children reported missing annually (rather than the number of children who remain missing). You have to ask yourself why.

If by “missing kids” you mean all children then of course YABU because children is such a wide sore trim that even say, a thirteen year old who disappears is considered a missing child. And in most instances those go missing of their own accord.

In terms of e.g. toddlers etc, iirc 97% of thos who disappear turn out to have been harmed by someone close to them. In other cases they are believed to have been murdered within 48 hours.

And as a PP said, those who have been found years later have been kept alive for far more sinister reasons.

I suspect in the situation currently in the news this story will disappear again as quickly as it turned up.

Usually in these kind of missing cases there’s a report every few years saying that there’s been a possible sighting or a suspect and then nothing ever comes of it. I remember the Ben Needham case, there were always reports from time to a time of a child who could have matched Ben’s description turning up somewhere, and then turning out to be just a random child. It’s only recently that it has been confirmed that Ben was likely killed accidentally and buried.

Also in high profile cases, if they are never solved, it’s not that uncommon for someone to come up at the time that person would have been an adult to claim they are in fact said person, for no other reason than money usually

There will almost certainly be people coming forward in the future claiming they are in fact MMC.

Wide *pectrum

*spectrum even

Unfortunately I think you are mistaken. I am a member of unresolved mysteries and many of them have tragic ends. I think if children are very young it is possible, but after a certain age, no.

I do think that a fair few children who are marked as runaway may not be though. I don't think it happens as often now, but there are still a lot of people who don't get caught even when they should be - look at the awful Delphi murders. The clever girl there recorded him and they still can't find him

Also the idea of an illegal adoption trade is a bit of a fantasy.

People often talk about how they hope the child is being raised by a loving family, but let’s be honest, no-one who is a decent human being would pay money for a child who had been snatched from their family to be sold to them.

The thought of this keeps me up at night. Can't bare it 😩

loads of kids get abducted, forced to work selling drugs in county lines. It is a huge problem, yet unfortunately no one ever considers them as they are not primary school aged and cute. Often their missing is not reported due to their parents being complicit or in debt to gangs.

In the US, parental abduction is quite common.

I remember someone in the US did a follow-up of missing children's cases in one area and almost all of them had been resolved. Only a few were still missing. Most of the kids had run away and ended up being later found.

I’d like to think so, but the reality is most abductions end tragically and children are more likely to be taken by predators than taken to be sold/raised by other families.

I've always assumed MM was abducted by a paedophile and dead within 48 hours. Looks like I was right.

The remains of a child that small would be relatively easy to hide. It would be lovely if the McCanns finally got her body back for burial. That's the best outcome they're likely to get now.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/chinese-man-abducted-as-toddler-32-years-ago-reunited-with-parents

This above the hope but I think unfortunately very rare.

The* not this

I think it's being hopeful rather than unreasonable to think that.
An abducted child is highly unlikely to be living a jolly family life (really the only way that would be likely to happen would be a if a woman who had lost a baby/child snatched a replaced). Under most circumstances a child that was snatched and kept alive would be living hidden trapped somewhere and being abused. There have been a couple of cases where girls have escaped after years in captivity and their stories are far from comforting and reassuring.
What new developments may bring is resolution and the ability to move forward.

No mention of a tall blond man in any of the witness statements. I'm not so sure.

It’s a positive and hopeful way of looking at it but not realistic. It’s more likely that they are murdered and then I’d suggest the next most likely scenario is being held somewhere for long term abuse. It’s horrifying.

Yeah. I likely have watched too much Lifetime TV