Most Child Abductions Occur During After School Hours

Alexandria, VA
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children commemorated this day by holding a safety and children's ID event with help from the Alexandria Police Department.

Parents left with their children's fingerprints and photos. The center's workers want parents to keep talking to their children about safety.

For Center employee Juriese Colon, her interest in protecting children began close to home. Colon grew up in Spotsylvania County and knew Kristin and Kati Lisk, who were abducted from their front yard in 1997.

"It really had an impact on me at that point. I wanted to do something. I just felt so bad. It really touched my heart," Colon said.

She decided to study criminal justice in college... about the time the Center for missing and exploited children helped solve the Lisk Case. Their killer was sociopath Richard Marc Evonitz who also killed Sofia Silva after abducted(sic) her from her front porch in September of 1996.

The girls' abductions match the most common type. The Center found in a recent study that most abductions occur during the hours of 2:00 -7:00 p.m. when children are often alone.   She says there were 800,000 attempted abductions last year, but thankfully, more than 80% of the children got away.  They ran, kicked, screamed, and in some cases, a bystander intervened.