National Statistics

 

According to National Center for Missing Adults. There are approximately 46,000 adults missing as of March 31, 2004. Of those missing, 17,439 are considered “at risk” or endangered missing; 6,309 are determined missing involuntarily; 7,691 are missing with disabilities; 1,046 are Catastrophe victims and 1,866 are placed into the “Other” category.

Individuals are reported missing due to various circumstances; psychiatric disability, diminished mental capacity (mentally challenged), a physical disability, a need for medication, issues with substance abuse, domestic violence, financial woes or other factors that can contribute to their disappearance that are not always clear.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health an estimated 22.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older - 1 in 5 adults – suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. This figure translates to 44.3 million people.

According to national statistics released by the Alzheimer's Association an estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, that number doubling since 1980. By 2050 the number of individuals with Alzheimer's disease could range from 11.3 million to 16 million. According to these statistics, many of us will have the responsibility of caring for and protecting a family member who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

According the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as of July 30, 2004 there are 47,842 active missing adult cases in NCIC with 30,622 missing adults missing one year or more.

85% to 90% of the 876,213 persons reported missing to America's law enforcement agencies in 2000 were juveniles (persons under 18 years of age). That means that 2,100 times per day parents or primary care givers felt the disappearance was serious enough to call law enforcement.

152,265 of the persons reported missing in 2000 were categorized as either endangered or involuntary.

The number of missing persons reported to law enforcement has increased from 154, 341 in 1982 to 876,213 in 2000. That is an increase of 468%.

According to the United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Juvenile Justice Bulletin, June 2000

Kidnapping makes up less than 2 percent of all violent crimes against juveniles reported to police.

Based on the identity of the perpetrator, there are three distinct types of kidnapping: kidnapping by a relative of the victim or "family kidnapping" (49 percent), kidnapping by an acquaintance of the victim or "acquaintance kidnapping" (27 percent), and kidnapping by a stranger to the victim or "stranger kidnapping" (24 percent).

Family kidnapping is committed primarily by parents, involves a larger percentage of female perpetrators (43 percent) than other types of kidnapping offenses, occurs more frequently to children under 6, equally victimizes juveniles of both sexes, and most often originates in the home.

Acquaintance kidnapping has features that suggest it should not be lumped with stranger kidnapping into the single category of non-family kidnapping, as has been done in the past.

Acquaintance kidnapping involves a comparatively high percentage of juvenile perpetrators, has the largest percentage of female and teenage victims, is more often associated with other crimes (especially sexual and physical assault), occurs at homes and residences, and has the highest percentage of injured victims.

Stranger kidnapping victimizes more females than males, occurs primarily at outdoor locations, victimizes both teenagers and school-age children, is associated with sexual assaults in the case of girl victims and robberies in the case of boy victims (although not exclusively so), and is the type of kidnapping most likely to involve the use of a firearm.

If any other segment of our population were so impacted, we would declare an epidemic: the center for disease control would fund a cure; we would pass and enforce legislation and we would increase private and public security. But, since it is only our children many in our society accept these appalling numbers as status quo. Although there are no quick fixes to the problems of child safety, there are many things that we can do as adults to address and positively impact the issue.

Regardless of the circumstances of a person's disappearance every effort must be made to locate and confirm identity in order to provide intervention services and determine populations that may be more at risk