Hundreds of children go missing daily, with figures varying by country; in the U.S., around 2,100 children are reported missing each day (though many are false alarms), while in Australia, about 48 young people under 18 go missing daily, though actual numbers can be higher due to unreported cases. The majority of these cases involve runaways or family-related incidents, with most children being located, but the numbers highlight significant risks like exploitation and trafficking, especially for vulnerable youth.
“….. A child goes missing every 40 seconds in the U.S., over 2,100 per day. In excess of 800,000 children are reported missing each year; another 500,000 go missing without ever being reported.” - Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
Approximately 840,000 children are reported missing each year and the F.B.I. estimates that between 85 and 90 percent of these are children. While most reports of missing or abducted children are resolved within hours, many involve situations where a child goes missing permanently or for an extended period of time.
According to another source, only about 100 cases per year can be classified as abductions by strangers. According to the State Department, between 2008 and 2017 an average of about 1,100 children were abducted from the U.S. to a foreign country.
According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), approximately two-thirds of stranger abductions involve female children. The Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative also notes that abducted victims are predominantly female, at 73%.
According to data from the 2019 United States Census, people who are Black or African American make up 13.4% of the United States population (QuickFacts). However, nearly 40% of missing persons are people of color (“Statistics,” Black and Missing). Black children make up about 33% of all missing child cases.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., 20-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was kidnapped about 9:00 p.m., on March 1, 1932, from the nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home near Hopewell, New Jersey.
A woman who went missing 52 years ago has been found alive and well after police released a grainy photograph as part of an appeal, solving one of Britain's longest-running missing person cases. Sheila Fox, now 68, disappeared from Coventry in 1972 when she was 16.
Those aged between 13 and 17 account for half of all missing persons reported to police, approximately 19,000 reports each year. There are many reasons why youth go missing. To find out more and to see what youth support services are available visit https://www.missingpersons.gov.
What to do if your child is missing. Immediately call your local law enforcement agency. After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678).
More than 5000 missing persons cases are reported in South Australia every year.
— A child is most likely to go missing over the summer. That's according to data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In that same study, they reported more than 36 million cases of children being exploited not only in person but also online.
Please report lost children to a Cast Member so Disneyland Resort security personnel can assist you. Children who become separated from their parents while in the park will be escorted to the nearest Baby Care Center and Lost Children facility by a Cast Member.
Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person, who at the age of 3 disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007. The Daily Telegraph described her disappearance as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history".
Cleveland Abduction. Abducted and imprisoned, Michelle Knight finds the will to survive amid the most horrific and heartbreaking of circumstances in this true-crime drama.
The kidnappers thought they found a way to make quick money by kidnapping Johnny, but they were mistaken. Johnny terrorizes Bill and Sam, which is the central conflict of the story. The story warns against hubris and taking the easy way out.
Kidnappings per 100,000 people, 2017:
The average for 2017 based on 65 countries was 1.8 kidnappings per 100,000 people. The highest value was in Belgium: 10.3 kidnappings per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Bermuda: 0 kidnappings per 100,000 people.
Marvin Clark, is currently the longest active missing persons case. Despite the fact that Marvin and anyone that would have Known him would be Long gone now. Marvin was Born in 1852, Nearly 9 years before the American Civil War. He went missing October 30th 1926, while going to see his daughter in Portland Oregon.
There were 574 victims of kidnapping/abduction recorded in Australia in 2024, an increase of 75 victims from the previous year. The victimisation rate for kidnapping/abduction remained stable at 2 victims per 100,000 persons.
Run and scream if someone tries to force you to go somewhere with them or tries to push you into a car. Memorize a secret code word. Tell your child not to go with anyone under any circumstances unless that person also knows this code word. You don't need to help an adult.
If you see a car going slowly along the street and pulling over next to a kid, you should know that this is a warning sign. And if a driver is asking a child for directions or inviting them to get into the car, this is definitely a kidnapper. A normal driver will ask adults, police officers, or simply use a GPS.