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When someone speaks of “abducted”
children, one envisions a stranger that grabs a child and takes them away.
We don’t usually think of a parent, whom a child loves and trusts, taking
a child and forcing them to live a new life. There are so many cases of
parental or family abductions, that one can hardly keep up. A lot of these
cases are resolved very quickly, with the child in good health, but there
are the ones that aren’t that easy.
Recently, a woman in her early 20’s
went to get a state ID card. Using her real birth name, Ana Rangel, alarms
went off in the system that she was an abducted child. The girl had been
abducted and taken to Mexico by her father when she was a toddler. More
than 20 years went by, and her mother had no idea what had happened to
her. Now, once again, her mother was able to speak to her. There are so
many cases like this one. The abducting parent will take the child outside
of the US and Canada where the authorities are less likely to look for
them, and where they're less likely to be found. Some parents change their
child’s name, hair color, and other distinguishing characteristics. How
traumatic this must be for the child.
Unfortunately, not all parents
have the best intentions in mind, and harm does come to the children as in
the case of Tara and Casey Jo Hull. They were abducted by their father
during a scheduled visit. Six months later, the remains of all three were
found near Mr. Hull’s Johnstown, PA home. Family abduction cases like this
one, however, are the minority.
Problems arise for custodial parents
when their child is abducted to another country. Some countries will
protect an abducting parent from having to return the child. Some
custodial parents actually have photos of their abducted children but are
unable to do anything more to actually get to their children.
So many
of these children are alive, well, and have no idea that someone is
looking for them. There has got to be more that we can do to help bring
these children home. With the advance in technology and the internet, so
many more children like Ana Rangel will be able to know they're missing
and find their way back home.
Author: Dana Gonzalez
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