The kidnapping of a child is every parent’s worst nightmare. Statistically, the vast majority of kidnapped children are never returned to their parents. In the past few years, especially recently, there have been some well publicized cases of children being returned to their parents.
Some of these abducted children are returned after many years of being held captive. Obviously, this is very unusual, since most children are never returned and many times not even any remains are found. Most parents who loose a child through kidnapping, never even get an answer to the question of, “Is my child alive or dead?
Kidnapping happened in my family, to my sister-in-law’s son, my nephew, “Patrick”. We were one of the vary rare and very fortunate families to whom the child was returned to. Even more rare, was the fact that Patrick was returned completely unharmed. I’d like to share my sister-in-law, “Susan’s” true experience. (Names have been changed in this article to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.)
I’m sure Susan was one of the parents, that while careful with her children’s safety, never thought that an abduction would actually happen to her family. It is good for parents to be reminded, that kidnapping can happen very quickly-even to very cautious, astute parents. So parents, please pay special attention to Susan’s cautionary tale.
First a little about Susan. Susan is an intelligent, educated clerical professional. She is an excellent, loving mother who is protective of her children without stifling them. Susan is cautious by nature having grown up in California in the 1960’s. She is very much aware of how ugly and dangerous the world around her can be.
Now let’s go back to the early 1980’s. Susan’s life is in a really good place right now. She’s managed to put a difficult childhood with an abusive father behind her. Susan has finally found happiness with her husband of several years, “Tom.” Both Susan and Tom have had failed marriages in the past and are glad to have found each other. Tom’s career is booming in his field and while not wealthy, he is making a very good living for the family. Life is good for Susan and Tom.
Susan’s dreams of becoming a mother finally came true when she gave birth to her first child, a son named “Patrick.” Patrick is a sweet, happy, healthy baby boy that brings much joy to his loving parents. He is a beautiful child that is always noticed and doted on even by strangers. With a smile like Patrick’s, who couldn’t help but notice. But parents, remember that the bad people of the world notice our beautiful children too.
Patrick is now about two years old. Susan decides to treat herself and little Patrick to a day at a local fair. Tom has to work, but Susan decides that this will be a mother and son outing. Susan is enjoying the fair with Patrick who is taking it all in with his big brown eyes. All is well in the world for both of them and they are both feeling contented and happy. Neither one of them could have possibly been prepared for what is about to happen next.
Mid-day rolls around and Susan decides to get a snack for herself and Patrick. Susan walks up to a concession stand, pushing Patrick in his stroller. Susan steps away from the stroller, only a few precious steps away, to pay for and pick up the snacks. In the minute or less that this takes, it happens. Susan turns around with the snacks and Patrick and his stroller are both gone.
Susan immediately knows something is terribly wrong and that something very bad has happened. No one around her seems to have noticed anything, as she starts questioning the strangers around her asking if they’ve seen her missing son. She starts to yell to alert people to the situation. Susan gets help and someone calls the police all while she and others are frantically searching the crowd for Patrick. The police arrive and Tom is called at work. The fair is searched, but no one can find Patrick, any trace of him nor any leads as to who might have taken him.
Susan is absolutely distraught and beside herself with terror when Tom finally arrives at the police station. Susan and Tom go through the usual questioning routine that is done when a child goes missing. The police want to be sure that a family member has not taken the child, and it is quickly made clear that this is not the case. The police are looking for Patrick and doing all that is humanly possible to find the missing child.
Hours go by and the waiting and uncertainty are unbearable for Susan and Tom. They both watch the news and understand just how serious this situation is. Susan and Tom are wondering who has Patrick, why they have him and what is being done to their son.
Susan and Tom hope Patrick won’t become another statistic, a face on a poster never to be seen again. They pray and beg God for Patrick to be found alive and unharmed. Susan tries not to let her mind think of all the awful things that could be happening to her little Patrick. If she lets herself dwell on that, she knows she will loose the little composure and strength she has left.
They know the evil reasons some people kidnap children and have a vague idea of the horrors that could be in store for a child being held by such a person. The well publicized kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh in 1981 is still in everyone’s mind, especially now Susan’s and Tom’s. They know that they may never see Patrick alive again or never even find his little body. They know that they may never truly know what has happened to him, no trace of him may ever be found.
More hours go by and Susan and Tom are about to break from grief and worry. The hours that pass are unbearable and agonizing. The police have made it clear that every passing hour makes the chances of finding Patrick at all, much less alive, are less and less. It’s early in the evening, most people have come home from work or are on their way home from work.
Finally it happens, they get the news that they have found Patrick and he is completely unharmed. A man has brought a young toddler fitting Patrick’s description into a police station. The man reported that when he came home from work, his wife had a baby with her that he knew was not theirs.
The couple had lost an infant and his wife had not emotionally recovered from it, leaving her mentally unbalanced. The husband, against his wife’s wishes and pleadings, obviously, refused to allow her to keep the kidnapped child. He didn’t want to put another family through the loss they had gone through.
Apparently seeing Patrick at the fair, grinning and beaming in his stroller, was too much temptation for his mentally ill wife. It was never clear weather she stalked Susan and Patrick, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce and snatch Patrick. Or it could have simply been that she saw Susan turn away from the stroller for just that one minute and took advantage of what she felt was an opportunity to finally have a child of her own. Either way, obviously what she did was wrong and a symptom of a very troubled mind. She did not harm Patrick in any way and he was well cared for during the hours under her forced care, something that Susan and Tom were very grateful for.
Susan and Tom had a joyous, emotional reunion with their beloved son, Patrick. They felt so blessed to have him back in their arms, knowing most parents in similar situations aren’t so fortunate. Susan and Tom, after hearing the pleadings of the woman’s husband and the full details of her situation decided not to press any formal charges against the woman. As angry, hurt and outraged as they were over what she had put them through, they realized that she needed mental health help, not criminal punishment.
It was unclear to me weather or not the state officials sought to punish the kidnapper and how they chose to punish her if they did so. Weather or not she recovered and had another child of her own or tried to kidnap another child is unknown. We can only hope that she recovered and went on to have a healthy and happy life with children of her own and was hopefully in a better mental state.
As for Susan and Tom and their unusually happy ending, things went well for them. Patrick flourished and never seemed to have any trauma from his kidnapping. They wisely chose not to tell Patrick about his kidnapping until he was quite a bit older, because they didn’t want to instill a kidnapping phobia in the child.
Patrick became a big brother to “Sharon” a few years later. They had their problems like any other family, especially when Tom lost his lucrative job a few years later and Susan had to return to work. But for the most part, they were all very happy just to be together, because they all knew things could have turned out very differently.
Susan and Tom as parents managed to keep their balance and not become extremely overprotective of their children. Susan, who was always cautious, was even more cautious about her children’s safety than before. But she managed to appropriately shelter and protect the children without making them fearful and nervous. Both Susan and Tom were excellent parents and are beloved by their children.
As for Patrick, he’s all grown up now and is in his mid 20’s. He has a good job and is going back to school for his degree. He is engaged to be married to a lovely young lady and will probably one day start a family of his own. He’s well adjusted and doesn’t seem to have any issues related to his brief abduction.
Patrick’s little sister, Sharon, will be entering medical school this year and plans to become a pediatrician. Tom and Susan are still happily married and hope to enjoy many more years together. They are so thankful for the second chance they were given and look forward to eventually becoming grandparents.
I hope that by sharing this experience parents realize just how quickly a child can be taken. It took less then a minute for Susan to almost loose Patrick forever. So, parents keep your eyes open and your children close by your side and in your site at all times.
