NCJ Number
210200
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 17 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 1218-1233
Date Published
November 2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study compared violent and nonviolent cases of nonfamily infant abduction cases.
Abstract
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) was created in the early 1980s in response to concern over families who had lost children. One of their first tasks involved the classification of missing children; nonfamily abduction is one of the five categories of missing children cases. The current study compared violent and nonviolent nonfamily infant abductions in order to analyze aspects of the crime and the offender. Variables under consideration included the amount and location of violent infant kidnapping, the characteristics and strategies involved in the act, length of time for recovery of the child, how the child was identified, and the criminal justice outcome. Data were drawn from 199 nonfamily infant abduction cases reported to the NCMEC between 1983 and 2000. Additional data were drawn from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interviews with 14 abductors and from information on 102 criminal court case outcomes. File reviews indicated that 30 (15 percent) of the cases involved violence, either by threat or action. Of these 30 cases, 9 percent involved the murder of the mother and 33 percent involved a cesarean extraction of the infant. In comparison to nonviolent abductors, violent abductors were more often females over the age of 30 years who used confidence-style approaches, carried weapons, had accomplices, and were motivated by relationship factors. Future research should focus on the thinking patterns and motivation for violence of violent, nonfamily infant abductors. Table, references