Approximately 2 ½ years ago, a little girl in our community
went missing one afternoon when she was walking home from school. Her
body was found several days later in a landfill. She was abducted by a
man who lived in a house that she walked past every day on her way home from
school. It was heartbreaking to witness her mother’s pain and follow the
news reports on the authorities’ efforts to find this little girl before she
was harmed.
As a child, my parents would always talk to me about the
importance of not talking to strangers, not answering the telephone or opening
the front door if I was home alone. I will never forget when my parents
made me watch the Adam Walsh movie to further educate me on the importance of
not wandering off from them when we were out in public. I think the Adam
Walsh story really “hit home” for my parents since I was approximately the same
age as Adam Walsh when he went missing.
As an adult, the news reports of the missing girl really
“hit home” for me. The story was local, and I was now a mother. While
my husband and I tearfully watched the news reports, we discussed how
unthinkable it would be to lose a child. For a parent, there is no greater
fear than losing a child, especially in such a senseless and disturbing way.
My husband and I started looking online for products and
information available to protect and educate children on the threats posed by
predators. We found a wealth of tools and information previously unknown
to us. Unfortunately, we also discovered that locating these resources
was like a lengthy research project. The information was fragmented and
scattered over various sites. There was no single destination where a
parent could readily connect with tips to prevent
abduction, educational materials and safety programs offered by non-profits, child
safety books
and DVD's,
internet safety
products, or child safety products like digital ID kits and locator devices.
We launched PreventAbduction.net
and this companion blog to solve that problem and assist parents with
developing a child abduction safety program specific to the needs of their
children. In the coming weeks, we will begin to feature common tips for
safeguarding children against predators and the threat of abduction. We will
also begin posting reviews of child safety books and DVD's that you can share
with your children, as well as information about products such as digital child
identification kits and child locator devices.
We hope you will follow us on this journey, and we look
forward to your comments and insight.
Thank you.
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