Disappearance - Choice or Criminal

I am often bothered by the many young adults who vanish from their homes without a moment's notice...here today and gone tomorrow. I feel so helpless when I get phone calls from the parents whose young adult child has gone missing....what can I tell them...keep the faith, be courageous during this trying time.

There is this man, a father who I have spoken to a couple of times this week. His daughter is missing. Today I said to him that sometimes a disappearance is by choice, that maybe his daughter decided to make a decision of her own and flee the family home. He understood from where I was coming from....but it really is so sad that he may never see his daughter again and may never know if she is really alive or dead. There is no closure in these types of cases.

Young females can be the prey of men whose motives are very criminal.....the promise of a good life, money, clothes , trips and drugs. Women are being sold on the black market and shipped to countries far away for slavery. Others are sent to cults.

I believe that we need to all be vigilant of our children's whereabouts and who their friends and associates are. And we need to step up to the plate aggressively if necessary no matter what age they are and get involved in any potentially serious situation.

Many of our families at AFPAD wait each day to know if their loved one is alive or if their body will be found. It's the hard dark walls that surround these families...never knowing the truth.

I would like all of you reading this blog to take a moment and reflect about those families who try each day to get out of bed and go on with their lives. At the same time, hug your loved one and be thankful that I am not writing about you and your family.