An investigative analysis of 463 incidents of single-victim child abductions identified through Federal Law Enforcement

We examined the characteristics of perpetrator, victim, and crime scene for 463 child abduction incidents involving a single perpetrator and single victim based upon case material submitted to federal law enforcement. The victims were predominantly female with sexual assault being the primary motivation for the abduction of both the female and male victims. Within this sample 55% of the female child victims and 49% of the male child victims were found dead or not recovered. Offenders who were identified as being criminally versatile were found more often to abduct the youngest and oldest children, to be between the ages of 30 to 59, and a stranger to their victim. In contrast, perpetrators with prior crimes against children tended more often to be below the age of 30 years, to demonstrate more of a propensity for abducting children of minority status, and to perpetrate crimes with a lower probability of holding their victims for more than 8 h. Only 5% of offenders who abducted a female child and none of the perpetrators who abducted male child victims during or after 1994 were found to be registered on a state or federal sex offender registry.