Have you seen these kids?

Have you seen these kids?

By DAN SULLIVAN, DAILY SUN

THE VILLAGES — By now, it would be hard to find anyone in the tri-county area who hasn’t heard of Trenton Duckett.

Even outside the local area, millions of people, because of the heavy exposure the case has received in the national media, have become familiar with the mystery of what happened to the missing 2-year-old from Leesburg.

Everyone has heard of Trenton.

No one has heard of Elmi Garcia.

Elmi, like Trenton, is a missing child. A missing-child poster on the Web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children states that Elmi went missing Nov. 11, 2005, in Wildwood and is believed to still be in the local area.

Nor has anyone heard of Jaren Hare.




Jaren disappeared June 25 of this year from Weirsdale, according to the NCMEC. She is also believed to still be in the local area.

Unlike Trenton, there are no posters with pictures of Elmi or Jaren hanging in the front windows of local stores or at other public places. There are no Amber Alerts with scrolling marquees displayed on highway signs warning travelers to be on the lookout for them.

Why?

Because Elmi and Jaren and 1.3 million others like them are classified as runaways — the most common classification of missing children.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, of the more than 700,000 children who are reported as missing each year, approximately 203,900 are abducted by a member of their family and 58,200 are abducted by a non-family member. Only about 115 children are considered victims of what is known as a “stereotypical kidnapping,” making cases like that of Trenton Duckett a rarity.

Runaway cases account for the bulk of missing-child statistics.

According to Lee Reed, a consultant with Team Adam, the NCMEC’s child abduction rapid response team, cases like those of Elmi and Jaren do receive a little more special attention than other runaway cases.

Elmi and Jaren are classified as “endangered” runaways.

“It’s based on the totality of information from the parents,” Reed said of the classification.

If a child is thought to be at risk for some kind of harm, due to statements they have made or a belief that they have run away with an older companion, the “endangered” label is applied to the case, he said. Less than 5 percent of runaways are classified by law enforcement as endangered.

The NCMEC currently lists 63 endangered runaways from Florida on its Web site.

A retired police officer from Abilene, Texas, Reed worked missing-child and runaway cases for most of his 30-year career.

“Generally speaking, they all have some kind of family dysfunction,” Reed said of runaways, adding that various factors can motivate a child to leave home.

“You’ve got to determine, are they running from something or are they running to something?” Reed said.

In 66 percent of cases, he said, runaways flee to the home of a friend. Less often, runaways are found to have fled in the company of an older companion. Rarely do they travel very far away from home.

“In the late ’40s and early ’50s, you saw lots of children going to California to become movie stars or join the circus,” Reed said. “You just don’t see the hitchhiking runaway of the ’60s anymore.”

As is the case with certain types of crime, children seem to go missing during certain seasons and times of year. There are two different times of year in which children seem to run away more frequently, Reed said.

The first month of a new school year is one of those times.

“They’re not being accepted in school,” Reed said. “Social groups start developing and social pressures start building up.”

The last week of March and the first week of April is another time of year when children seem to run away more frequently.

“That’s usually when spring starts coming around,” Reed said. “Temperatures start warming up.”

Springtime runaways are especially apparent in Northern states, he said, where winter has kept children inside for several months. Travel becomes more available to children once the days start getting longer and the weather warms up.

In determining whether a child is a runaway rather than the victim of an abduction, local police must examine the individual circumstances of a case once it is reported.

“One thing you’ve got to look at, of course, is age,” Reed said. “Is it a 6-year-old versus is it a 16-year-old?”

In most cases, he said, the older a child is, the more likely he or she is to run away from home. Additionally, a history of running away is a strong indication that a missing child has not been abducted.

Runaway cases have a 70 percent recidivism rate, Reed said.

“Normally, law enforcement will take a report from the parent or guardian; the information is then entered into the NCIC (National Crime Information Center),” Reed said.

“If there are any leads, they follow up on them,” he said, adding that runaway cases are not typically investigated as vigorously as other types of missing-child cases.

Nevertheless, Reed said, 95 percent of runaways are eventually recovered.

Even in situations in which the child may not want to return home, local runaway shelters offer help to those in desperate circumstances and provide a place to stay for children who would otherwise be homeless.

A nonprofit group known as the National Runaway Switchboard also offers various services to youths in crisis, including a toll-free hotline, (800) RUNAWAY, through which runaways can receive assistance or relay messages to their family.

Even with the availability of such services, prevention of runaway situations is the desired goal of child advocates and law enforcement.

“Have open communication with your child,” Reed said. “That’s the best way.”

Dan Sullivan is a reporter with the Daily Sun. He can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9059, or dan.sullivan@thevillagesmedia.com.


http://www.angelsthatcare.org/active_missing_hoaxes-virus.html
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/missingkids/

http://www.nrscrisisline.org/

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/content/youthdivision/resources/nrsfactsheet.htm


http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=usMapSearch&missState=FL&searchLang=en_US