What is missing?

So, today was spent trying to help mom tidy up the house some since they have been having work done on the inside of the house the past few months. Needless to say, things have been a little out of order. I managed to somewhat tidy the "basement" area of the house and the kitchen somewhat. I also managed to stumble across a Christmas card that interested my parents a great deal seeing as how it had money tucked inside! :)

Today is "National Missing Children's Day." This is one of those that we need to take the time out to take a little more seriously than eating snail. I am not an expert on missing children but I do know the children that are reported missing or kidnapped on the news or in a newspaper are but a blip on the radar of the actual number of kids that go missing on a daily basis. I began to grow curious about what the actual statistics were about how many kids go missing each year and this is what I found on one website.

The U.S. Department of Justice reports

• 797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day.
• 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
• 58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions.
• 115 children were the victims of “stereotypical” kidnapping. (These crimes involve someone the child does not know or someone of 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.)

A more positive statistic was, "Since 1984, NCMEC has assisted law-enforcement with more than 168,000 missing-child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 157,720 children."

I sincerely hope you have never had to experience the kind of heartache that comes with missing a child. If you have experienced or known someone who has experienced this kind of difficulty in life my prayers are with you. I think we all look forward to seeing these dreadfully high numbers go down in the years to come but until then I encourage you to become as aware as possible on safe ways to keep this from happening to you or those you love.