NCJ Number
115213
Date Published
1989
Length
6 pages
Annotation
As part of a 6-part study on the extent and nature of the phenomenon of missing children, Federal Bureau of Investigation data on over 14,000 child homicides occurring between 1976 and 1984 were examined.
Abstract
These results then were compared with those from 6 additional studies of stranger abductions/homicides conducted between 1980 and 1988. Between 1980 and 1984, 260 child homicide cases -- an average of 52 per year -- were identified to have been committed by strangers and to have involved other crimes such as rape or other felony offenses. In addition, there were 530 cases -- or 106 annually -- of stranger homicides of children in which the surrounding circumstances were unknown. This conservative and higher national estimate appears to be confirmed by the other five studies, and suggests that stranger abduction homicides of children are not as common as has been previously believed. Additional findings indicate that adolescents, girls, and racial minorities are at greatest risk. The highest rates of stranger abduction homicides occurred in the Northeast, followed by the West, the Midwest, and the South. 12 references.