The news, at the same time shocking and hopeful, about the discovery of three Cleveland women who went missing as teenagers a decade ago has riveted the country. Surely the disappearance of a child is one of the most primal calamities that evolution has equipped us to dread. But the cases that rise to the level of news tend to distort perceptions of how often children go missing and why. It's important to sort out the myth and reality about missing kids.
1. Most missing children have been abducted by strangers.
Stranger abductions, such as the case of the three young women in Cleveland, are fearsome because they appear random and so often involve rape or homicide. But children taken by strangers or slight acquaintances represent only one-hundredth of 1 percent of all missing children. The last comprehensive study estimated that the number was 115 in a year. Far more common are children who have run away, have gotten lost or injured, have been taken by a family member (usually in a custody dispute) or simply aren't where they're expected to be because of a miscommunication.