Criminal Minds and a Shade of Gray

On the CBS show Criminal Minds a team patterned after the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit becomes involved with a different case each week.

CRIMINAL MINDS revolves around an elite team of FBI profilers who analyze the country’s most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit’s most prominent agent is David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), a founding member of the BAU, who returns to help the team solve new cases, while pursuing some unfinished business of his own.

In this week’s show “Season 4: Episode 21: A Shade of Gray” about a series of child abductions and murders Rossi made this frightening statement. 

“99% of abducted children are killed in the first 24 hours”

Dramatic statistics but not actually correct, at least according to the Case Management for Missing Children Homicide Investigation report by the Washington State Attorney and the U.S. Department of Justice- Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention. The statistic quoted is for those children who were abducted and murdered not for all abducted children.

There are approximately 115 children in the U.S. who are victims of a “stereotypical” kidnapping. These crimes involve someone the child does not know or a slight acquaintance who holds the child overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, kills the child, demands ransom, or intends to keep the child permanently. Approximately 40% of these children are murdered or never recovered.

46.8% of abducted children who were murdered were found dead in less than an hour .

76.2% of abducted children who were murdered were found dead within the first 4 hours.

88.5% of abducted children who were murdered were found dead within the first 24 hours.

97.9% of abducted children who were murdered were found dead within 7 days.

 

 Related Post:

2006 Child Abduction Murder Study

If the shoe fits

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The scale of the problem

In the Internet Age, it is hard to believe that someone would not be aware of the issue of how many children are missing.

Unfortunately, while millions of Federal dollars are allocated in the U.S. to raise public awareness about missing children, it isn’t a simple task for the general public to find current statistics or information.  A State like California or Wisconsin readily publishes data while others simply choose not to. Even the data published can vary depending on the source.

“….The National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which is part of the Criminal Justice Information Services Division within the Federal Bureau of Investigation, provides every state with a monthly report detailing statistics regarding the number of missing children in the state that month. The numbers reflect the total active missing children cases reported to NCIC for that month….”

However, there can be more entries than children. Therefore the report can appear skewed as it is based on transactions. For example every time a child runs away an entry is made and when they are found it is closed.  If the same child runs away or goes missing 10 times, that could have 10 different entries even though it is a single child, so instead of 10 runaways or 10 missing children, it is only one.

So when the mother of missing Madeleine McCann expresses her concern, she may be surprised to learn the U.S. may not be as advanced as she believes when it comes to educating the general public on missing children issues. The reality is that roughly 115 children annually fall prey to “stereotypical kidnappings“;tragic but a far cry from the 800,000 reported missing children number often quoted.

ABOUT MISSING CHILDREN

It is only since Madeleine was taken from us, that Gerry and myself have become aware of just how many children go missing each year from all around the world. The scale of the problem is huge. In fact, it is terrifying. I have asked myself many times “why did I not know about this? Am I that naïve or is it the fact that the problem itself is not well publicised for whatever reason?”

U.S. list of Missing-Child Clearinghouse Programs

Why so many?

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Endangered Missing ages 9-11

Recently 9-year-old, Rowan Ford, and 11 year-old Jodi Parrack were both found murdered. Neither apparently had put themselves intentionally in harms way.

Rowan Ford was murdered and raped allegedly by her stepfather while Jodi Parrack’s case remains unsolved.

 Eleven-year-old Jodi Parrack was found murdered within a mile of her home last Thursday night. The FBI has joined local investigators to retrace every step she made.Jodi was last seen leaving her friend’s home on East 3rd Street about 4:45. It’s believed she was heading to her own home at Centreville and Baldwin.

What is the Profile of an abducted and murdered child?

Victim Profile

76 percent of children killed by their abductor are girls

The average age is between 11 and 12 years old

57 percent are victims of opportunity

14 percent are chosen because of some physical characteristic

Well over half of all child abductions that lead to murder happen within three blocks of the victim’s home.

Source: Attorney General of Washington State, U.S. Department of Justice

Read more click here

There are 100 missing children at the NCMEC reported as missing between age 9-11 years-old almost equally divided between male (49%) and female (51%). Most, 73, are victims of Family Abductions. Sadly, many have been missing before turning those ages and simply now fall into the age category or will move to the next age group if not found.

ANTHONY VINCENT and BROOKLYN VINCENT are the only children listed under the criteria of Endangered Missing  although there are 11 children with Endangered Missing posters but they are listed as Lost,Injured, Missing.

Update 01-30-08

Portland, OR – Tonight at 6:30 PM, James Nelson Petty II, a 33 year-old white male, was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Oregon Fugitive Task Force, at the Silver Spur RV Park located at 12622 Silverton Rd., Silverton, Oregon. Incident to arrest, two minor children who had been listed as “Endangered Missing” on the National Center  for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) website, were taken safely into protective custody.

On the NCMEC website, photographs of Anthony and Brooklyn Vincent are profiled along with the suspect photograph of James Petty.

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Identifying the missing

Authorities are believed to be attempting to identify missing  “Baby Grace” through comparisons to one of the 11 missing female children listed between the ages of 2-3 years-old at National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). 

One of the issues confronting authorities is not all missing children are listed at the NCMEC. Some may be listed at other sites. Some are never reported.

 ” Another 500,000 go missing without ever being reported…”

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

In Florida alone, there are 446 missing  children in the “care” of the Florida Department of Children and Familes. Though authorities know who they are, they don’t know where they are.

According to the Galveston County Daily News, these three missing girls Celestia Langille, Deonna Shipman, Karen Matusiewicz are possible matches.

GALVESTON — Three little blonde girls with light-colored eyes from across the country have captured investigators’ attention.They’ve all been reported missing in the past four months, seemingly abducted by noncustodial parents.

Bringing attention to the issue of missing children is good but addressing the issues which result in them becoming missing would be better.

Update 11-20-07:

(11/19/07 – KTRK/GALVESTON, TX) – Eyewitness News has exclusive information on a case that made international headlines. There’s new information on the possible identity of ‘Baby Grace,’ the little girl whose body was found in a plastic box on a Galveston Bay island three weeks ago.

We’ve learned Galveston County deputies are trying to figure out whether a missing girl from Spring is the answer to the world-wide hunt.

Related Post:

One found 588 more still missing

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Murder statistic and abducted children

Alaska is going to test their Amber Alert system this morning. Since it’s implementation in 2003, it has never been activated for a missing child. In this ABC News article they point out how critical the first 3-4 hours are in the event of an abduction, suggesting 74% of child abductions have a tragic end within that time-frame.

Officials say the first 3 to 4 hours after a child is abducted is the most critical time for getting information out to the public and law enforcement. APD says statistics show that 74 percent of child abductions have a tragic end if not found with in that time frame. Law enforcements agencies and broadcasters voluntarily partner together to activate an urgent bulletin.

The statement is somewhat misleading because the statistics generally quoted are from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office 2006 Child Abduction Murder Study which is an update to previous ones. It actually refers to the percentage “of the abducted children who are murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction” not all abducted children in general.

Note: The ABC source is not cited.

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