Good advice by FBI hits close to home
Lee Benson
A year ago, at a law enforcement conference on kidnapping, Bingham, the FBI agent in charge of the Ogden and Vernal field offices, addressed a room full of officers from around the state about how best to respond in the first few moments of a reported kidnapping.
Focus your attention on people the victim knows rather than canvassing a neighborhood and wasting valuable time, Bingham advised, as reported by Pat Reavy of the Deseret Morning News.
Few abductions, Bingham stressed, are done by strangers. Look close to home first.
The FBI agent's prognostication couldn't have been more accurate concerning the abduction last week of Hser Ner Moo in South Salt Lake.
The 7-year-old was found in an apartment she was familiar with located just half a football field away from her own front door. The massive neighborhood search that ensued was as unnecessary as the valuable time that was wasted in the first few frantic moments when it was discovered that the gregarious, fun-loving girl who loved to dress in pink had disappeared without a trace.
The estimate is that she didn't last much more than an hour before she was killed — long before police and searchers ever fanned out to find her.
Forget the strangers, worry more about those who aren't strangers.
Salt Lake's latest heartbreaking horror bears eerie resemblance to the heartbreaking horror that preceded it.
When 5-year-old Destiny Norton went missing in the summer of 2006, her body was found less than a football field from her home. The 20-year-old neighbor who confessed to killing her is now serving a life sentence.
And while it remains to be seen if the 21-year-old neighbor of Hser that police have in custody is proven to be her killer, the fact that her lifeless body was found in the apartment where he lived is irrefutable.
Both homicides occurred close to home. Way too close to home for comfort.
This isn't to say that kids can't still be snatched from parks, the aisles of supermarkets or while walking to school. It's to say that while those contingencies get plenty of attention, warnings and vigilance, the nonstranger abductions do not.
Children are constantly being reminded not to take candy from strangers.
But it's more complicated to tell them not to take candy from people they know.
That's where the healthy cynicism of adults comes in handy — the realization that all is not as it appears.
In the words of Ronald Reagan, "Trust, but verify."
The sad case of Hser Ner Moo, whose short life will be eulogized in services today, is a cataclysmic reminder that it is not overprotective to want to always know where your children are and where they are going. And if they somehow disappear without notice, first and foremost, as the FBI agent advised, start searching close to home.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.
Recent comments
"Stranger danger" seems way over-emphasized in our society...
Good points | April 7, 2008 at 12:14 p.m.
The child was probably dead BEFORE she was even reported missing....
Anonymous | April 7, 2008 at 10:59 a.m.
When searching for a missing person I don't think it is wise...
Dave | April 7, 2008 at 7:39 a.m.
