Lost child question

[lham1531]

I"ll admit this sounds like one of those - I've gotten plenty of e-mails myself with warnings like this -

But, this man was the youth minister at my husband's church (my husband's father was the minister) - it was about 18 years ago when their son was around 4 - he's in college now - I certainly wouldn't post that it was someone I knew if I didn't - their church had a youth trip to DW world planned for the next spring and almost called it off - but the youth minister insisted that they go ahead and take the trip - it has really had an influence on the way my husband, in particular, feels about his own children and the potential of bad things happening to them (IOW, he's a realy worrier!)

I've always felt that urban legends are based in some element of truth, but that they take on a life of their own after being passed around - I'm not claiming this incidence is the origin of one, but none-the-less, happened -

 

[lham1531]

OK, I read the urban legend link - certainly casts doubt, doesn't it -

I can't imagine that a whole church could be fooled by their minister into believing it if it wasn't true - and I've heard a whole group of friends re-count the story several times - of course, the story could have grown/changed among them over the years -

I'm calling my father in law tonight for a re-cap . . .

 

[daisylove]

Hi there
Thank you for not flaming me on that. I think you understand after reading the link. In any case it is frightening. The thought of anything happening to our kids in WDW or anywhere scares the pants of me. Especially when the story has the villians commit a clever manuver like that. We all just need to be vigilent. Which I think is the point to any story like that real or urban legend. And you are right I also believe that there is always some truth to these somewhere.

Back more on topic. Other than telling my DD who to look for (white tag CMs) I introduce her to a CM when we get in the park 1st thing. I also have a little dogtag for her shoe with her Asthma info and our cellphone # and she has a "special" necklace that I put on her lanyard. It is a laminated picture of Mickey (from a clothing tag from the disney store.lol) and on the back is her asthma info and the relevent phone #. I am not oneto take chances with my DD.

 

[MommytoPayton&Max]

This is an interesting thread for me, going with an almost DD4 and friend who is 5. I really want to get them guest of honor badges for "special treatment," but I have always read you should not let strangers know the name of your child or they could use this information to their advantage. I like to think that there would never be a problem at Disney, but I know better than that, too.

 

[eeyore0062]

Yes, I have read the Urban legend... it always is a different place, whether a theme park, retail store, park, etc.

 

[disgrajak]

I am a former prosecutor and used to work in abuse and neglect court. Child molesters are a devious and weird (not to mention evil) bunch. Pedophiles absolutely hang out at places like Disney, petting zoo's, swimming pools, etc.--anywhere where children are likely to be. Believe it or not, some of these freaks are married couples who have a similar interest in small children of one sex or another. In addition to snaching a kid, some of these people also victimize in different ways. I've seen video that these freaks have taken of little ones at public places-they attach their camera to a waist belt and try to shoot up little girls dresses for instance. One video was made at a swimming pool and the man taking it focused every shot on 6-8 year old girls. I don't want to freak people out, but I feel like people should be hyper aware of their kids in places like this. Also, If your children are verbal enough, I would tell them to approach a group of CM's if possible, or one working behind a counter with other people around, or a family. I think I would be leery of having them approach any person with a badge just meandering around. Who knows where the person got that badge? Also, if CM's are young enough, you never know if they have this type of problem. I'm sure Disney does background checks, but that is no guarantee. We recently had a child molested at a daycare in a town near to me by a 17 year old worker. His criminal check was clear. Again, I hope this is helpful and not scary to people. I am leaving tomorrow with my 5 year old and my 2 year old and knowing what I know I always feel a little nervous when we are in situations like this--I hope it also makes me more aware. Pixie dust to you all!

 

[daisylove]

Thanks for the heads up. It is always good to be aware. I ususally go with just me and DD so I try to always to be on my toes. It is hard in WDW.Even parents can get distracted. Good luck and have agood trip.

 

[risy]

What is especially troubling is that people are SELLING CM NAMETAGS ON EBAY !!!!!

When I was a Girl Scout they always told us that, if we got lost, find a "lady with a baby" to ask for help. Now that I am that "lady" I tend to intervene when I see a small child wandering aimlessly....

 

[wannabebelle]

I worked in the WDW college program in '96 (MK). We were told then that no child had ever been taken from a Disney park.

 

[WDSearcher]

Continuing on my earlier post, our friend's child was snatched while at the park, taken into a restroom, hair dyed and clothes changed (into a dress and the child was a boy) - our friends were rushed to security and were told to watch every child who was exiting and concentrate on their shoes - they spotted their child's shoes and the man trying to leave with the child was detained - can you believe that?

Not to disbelieve, but this is a popular urban legend -- a FALSE urban legend -- that has been making the rounds for over 10 years.

From a logic standpoint, I fail to see how someone could go into a bathroom and dye a child's hair, wash it, and dry it, without the child making a noise and without one single person wondering, "What the heck is that person doing?" It's not like you get a bathroom to yourself, y'know? The popular story is that the child was drugged, which makes it harder. Ever try to wash the hair of a child that can't (or won't) pick up their head or steady themselves on the sink?

Not to mention, this process would take an hour, at least. Most child abductors want to grab the child and get out as quickly as possible so that no one has time to set up any roadblocks or exit checks. Why dye the kid's hair and change his clothes when you can just pick him up and walk out without anyone questioning you? It's not like the CMs at the gate haven't ever seen a parent leave with a screaming child.

Plus ... if this were actually true, I can't believe that not one single credible news story is available about it anywhere. I know that Disney is great about keeping the news covered when it needs to, but this would have been huge, particularly since the guy was supposedly caught.

Again ... not to discount the experience your friends say they had, but I'd do a bit more checking on this one.

 

[Terry S]

risy..... I also am that lady that seems to intervene. On 3 seperate occasions I have noticed a child with a panicked look on thier face frantically looking around and have approached the child and ask if they were looking for thier mom or dad. When they say yes, I normally stay with the child and just talk to them and have my husband go grab a CM and bring them over to us. I don't want to move the child since thier parents may come back and I certainly won't touch the child. 1 time the parents came back and sntached the child and basically ran away from the CM and I without saying a word? The 2nd time the parents found us and said thank you very much and the 3rd time the parents never did come looking within the certain alloted amount of time that the CMs are supposed to stay in the area with the child and they then take the child to the baby care area.

 

[disgrajak]

Thanks Daisylove . One thing I did want to add is that the frequency of a stranger molesting a child/stranger abductions is very rare. (Another tip, don't let your little ones go into public restrooms on their own-we had a couple of these type happen in my town in the last couple of years) I hate the thought that I may have upset anyone and I want anyone reading this to know that it doesn't happen very often. It is much more likely to be (sadly) a family member/close friend/neighbor. Keep a tight hold on your kids but also have a great time. It's Disney!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wdwoldtimer]

Not implying anything about the earlier poster whatsoever, I've heard two of these urban legends before. A family friend swore she knew someone who went to WDW with kids and had this same experience - she lost her 4 year old boy and they caught some guy trying to sneak the child out with shaved/dyed hair in a dress.

I've heard a variation of that - that there's a gang of teens who the police have been trying to catch for years. They prowl the parks, snatch kids and take them into the bathrooms, shave their heads and get them high on drugs.

Of course the evil Disney Co. is well aware of this problem in the parks, but keeps it all hush hush so as not to hurt attendance.

I might mention that the person who told me that story, also called me up in December of 1999 and told me to throw away my computer because it was going to explode at midnight on New Years Eve...seriously.

 

[disgrajak]

I in no way mean to critisize any of the posters discussing the "urban legend", but I do want to point out that much worse things then this have happened to children and they are absolutely true. We had a horrible thing happen to a 4 year old boy in the bathroom of a popular chain store in my town. There was no one in that bathroom but the "perp" and the child. Not enough time to dye hair, but enough time to hurt a child forever. I read the police report myself and we had DNA, unfortunately, the man got away and to my knowldge has not been picked up. Again. really not trying to scare people, but these things are not a joke. These people exisit and they are thinking about ways to hurt kids 24 hours a day. Luckily the world is full of mostly wonderful people like the posters who stop and make sure that lost children find their parents. God bless all of you

 

[BarbaraK]

There is a company called Who's Shoes ID. There web site is www.WhosShoesID.com. You can order ID bands, ID cards and more. The Kids ID kit cost $7.99. Check it out.

Barbarak

 

[SaraMc]

Where I work we have a thing called "Code Adam" when a Child is lost, we always ask that parent for a disciption of the shoes. If I child does get taken chances are the abductor isnt going to change thier shoes. So if you put your Id info on the shoes, god forbid something happens the info will be on the shoes.

Sara

 

[wdwoldtimer]

If everyone is saying you can foil abductors by checking the shoes, don't you think the abductors will catch on and simply start changing shoes as well?

It's like law enforcement going on the news and saying they will now closely monitor people buying one way plane tickets with cash. Nothing like telling the bad guys how to avoid getting caught.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Just because a "legend"/urban myth is on snopes or whatever- doesn't mean it hasn't actually happened for real in some places/somewhere.

I live in a small town in Texas and although we don't have a huge amount of crime here- we HAVE (in all the years I've lived here since childhood) had one case a few years back that a young girl WAS kidnapped in a Walmart. They still haven't found her- and yes, it was on the news, signs everywhere with what they 'thought' the kidnapper looked like all over the place, etc. for quite some time. She disappeared after going to the restroom "alone"- they found things in the bathroom that would imply that her appearance had been altered, the items left behind in the bathroom, and then taken out of the store. Totally true... regardless of a legend on snopes.

 

[B&B Mom]

Does anyone know if all the restrooms are strictly Men or Women.
My DS7 freaks out when I try to take him into a Womens. He actually refuses to go and will hold it. It doesn't matter if he sees other boys coming and going with their mom's.
I always make sure he goes before we leave home but being at the parks all day there's bound to be problems.
Any ideas on this????

p.s. I am fully prepared to leave the park if he isn't willing to co-operate!

 

[kilee]

There are family restrooms. You could use one of these.

My son is a bit older (he's 12 now). But for the last 2 years we use our cell phones. He tends to wear cargo pants/shorts. So we give him 1 phone in a snapped up pocket. It's always fully charged and on. We carry our other phone. If he gets lost/separated he's supposed to stop right where he's at, take the phone out of his pocket and answer when it rings. Where gonna call him and come to him once he tell's us where he is. Now no signal could cause a glitch and he does know to find a CM as well. However, we use this method for things like our large county fair, events at the local arena where it's easy to get separated at the end of an event. He's alittle older now, so it would work as he can tell us where he's at and use the phone. Not the best idea for a young child though.