Odd Situation At MGM Today

[MyGoofy26]

But that moment of opportunity is for the child to get lost, not for someone to actually TAKE a child. I think the whole child kidnapping fears are way way out of control and this thread is just another example of that. Children are constantly wandering away from a distracted family and my first thought is never that they've been kidnapped.......when did this fear get so out of control?
I'm really thankful for sites like snopes, sites that debunk the rumors that go around like the one about kids getting kidnapped at theme parks.

All I know is what I was told while training for my College Program semester. . . when discussing how to handle "lost parents" and any situation where a child and parent are separated we were told that there HAVE been attempts, but luckily none successful. Yes, the overwhelming majority of cases are kids wandering away from parents or parents wandering away from children, and the cases of abduction are an extremely small number. But that doesn't mean an abduction hasn't been attempted or can't happen. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

When I worked there, I had to handle quite a few situations where children and parents had been separated and in none of those did anyone jump to the conclusion of kidnapping and I never heard any of my friends who had similar situations happen say that someone thought kidnapping was involved. . . which is why I thought it might be significant that someone (police) was actually saying the word because every time I'd ever been involved with or heard a story - it was always trying to find the child or locate the parents that got separated - never preparing to deal with a kidnapping case.

 

[DisMN]

All I know is what I was told while training for my College Program semester. . . when discussing how to handle "lost parents" and any situation where a child and parent are separated we were told that there HAVE been attempts, but luckily none successful. Yes, the overwhelming majority of cases are kids wandering away from parents or parents wandering away from children, and the cases of abduction are an extremely small number. But that doesn't mean an abduction hasn't been attempted or can't happen. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

When I worked there, I had to handle quite a few situations where children and parents had been separated and in none of those did anyone jump to the conclusion of kidnapping and I never heard any of my friends who had similar situations happen say that someone thought kidnapping was involved. . . which is why I thought it might be significant that someone (police) was actually saying the word because every time I'd ever been involved with or heard a story - it was always trying to find the child or locate the parents that got separated - never preparing to deal with a kidnapping case.

Interesting, thankyou for sharing this!
It's also nice to know that in your experience the first thought is not of kidnapping. I guess I worry about what we're doing to our children by planting unnecessary seeds of fear in them on a daily basis.

I can't count the times I've "found" "lost" children at Disneyworld, even had one or two grab my hand expecting me to be mommy or gramma! (like the story someone else mentioned)

 

[OntFamily]

This myth has made it all the way to the Uk. There was rumours that it had happened in our local mall a few years ago, I think most people have heard it.

Unfortunately, this did happen in the UK, 13 years ago (in Merseyside).

 

[dpuck1998]

Unfortunately, this did happen in the UK, 13 years ago (in Merseyside).

and the legand lives on....

 

[Disney Gator]

and the legand lives on....

That's how urban legends live on. Someone is always there to claim that yes it did really happen.

 

[momof2inPA]

The child in question, if she was near in age to my own child, was young. Young as in two, maybe three, tops. According to the police officer who questioned me, the child had been in a stroller, not walking on her own. Again, according to the officer, witnesses saw the woman wheel the stroller away, but assumed the child belonged to the woman until her parents realized she was missing and began searching for her. He had a very specific description to go on.

I don't know what the resolution was, only that they found the child safe at some point.

I believe your posts 100%. I do wonder if it wasn't a case of mistaken identity or something like that. Maybe the lady who took the stroller forgot that her husband had her child and just grabbed the stroller next to her out of habit. Maybe the parents didn't notice because the kid was sleeping and the stroller was right behind them. Maybe the kidnapper abandoned the stroller when she saw police on alert. There are tons of possibilities, but all your posts ring of absolute honesty.

 

[Gillian]

Unfortunately, this did happen in the UK, 13 years ago (in Merseyside).

If this refers to James Bulger, then yes, it did happen.

 

[sha_lyn]

James Bulger was kidnapped/murdered by 2 10 yr old boys. He was not kidnapped by an adult who took him into the bathroom, shave/cut and or dyed his hair, drugged him wrapped him in a blanket and pretended he was a sleeping baby of the opposite sex.



this is how Urban legends live on. Someone says one thing, then someone else adds to it. Then someone else comes along and adds a name or something else that is linked to true events.

Before you know it we have the urban legend that some kid at WDW was kidnapped, hair cut/dyed in the bathroom, clothes changed and they were drugged.

 

[snowbunny]

There is a terrific book that came out a few years ago called Protecting the Gift, which is about keeping our children safe.

Although the author, Gavin de Becker, deals with kidnapping because that is parents' greatest fear - and it's not a chapter I will ever forget - stranger kidnapping is rare. Far more common, as pointed out earlier in the thread, is abduction by a noncustodial parent. And far, far more commonly, we allow our children to be endangered by rationalizing trust in people because of their position in the community or who have not otherwise actually earned it.

 

[DisMN]

There is a terrific book that came out a few years ago called Protecting the Gift, which is about keeping our children safe.

Although the author, Gavin de Becker, deals with kidnapping because that is parents' greatest fear - and it's not a chapter I will ever forget - stranger kidnapping is rare. Far more common, as pointed out earlier in the thread, is abduction by a noncustodial parent. And far, far more commonly, we allow our children to be endangered by rationalizing trust in people because of their position in the community or who have not otherwise actually earned it.

Well said and these were the points I was getting at with my comments.
Thanks for saying it better than I did.

 

[Hull-onian]

Definitely an urban legend.

 

[OntFamily]

James Bulger was kidnapped/murdered by 2 10 yr old boys. He was not kidnapped by an adult who took him into the bathroom, shave/cut and or dyed his hair, drugged him wrapped him in a blanket and pretended he was a sleeping baby of the opposite sex.



this is how Urban legends live on. Someone says one thing, then someone else adds to it. Then someone else comes along and adds a name or something else that is linked to true events.

Before you know it we have the urban legend that some kid at WDW was kidnapped, hair cut/dyed in the bathroom, clothes changed and they were drugged.

If you re-read my original post, you will see that I was responding to a person posting about mall kidnappings, not WDW. Which, unfortunately did happen in the UK, in 1993. Regardless of the age of the assailant, the offensive act did happen.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/04/uttm/main299828.shtml

 

[dpuck1998]

If you re-read my original post, you will see that I was responding to a person posting about mall kidnappings, not WDW. Which, unfortunately did happen in the UK, in 1993. Regardless of the age of the assailant, the offensive act did happen.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/04/uttm/main299828.shtml

I think the point was that it wasn't the situation explained in the original story. We are all aware of kidnappings, but the urban legand of the shaved head etc is just that...urban legand.

 

[budbeerlady]

Unfortunatley when I made the ressie for the neverland club the cm reinterated to me twice that the same adult who dropped off dd must be the same one to pick her up. He said they have had a problem and that is the strict policy. And when we dropped her off I was once again told she would only be released into my care at then end of the night. These cms have enough work and worry in a day without having to get involved in a custody mess, too bad the world has come to that!

 

[sha_lyn]

If you re-read my original post, you will see that I was responding to a person posting about mall kidnappings, not WDW. Which, unfortunately did happen in the UK, in 1993. Regardless of the age of the assailant, the offensive act did happen.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/04/uttm/main299828.shtml

If you reread the post they responded to, it was in reguards to the situation I describe in my post happening at a mall.

No where did I say that he was not kidnapped/murdered. It however did not happen in the manner that was being discussed.

 

[Aptor]

yes odd

 

[TDC Nala]

The James Bulger case did occur in a mall. The two older boys accosted the younger one and walked him out of the mall, and the kid just went with them. The child was apparently in sight of his mother or his aunt for all but a period of less than a minute, during which the kidnapping occured. The two boys apparently walked the younger child around town for hours. They didn't attempt to disguise him. Many people saw them and spoke to them but didn't realize what was going on, and the older boys said the kid was their little brother so nobody challenged them.

Some of this story may have made it into the urban legend, but the rest of it is probably embellishment. It does show that such things, while extremely unlikely, can happen within very short time periods.

 

[MareSINY]

When I was in WDW in September I saw something on our last day. We were hanging out in the CR's 4th floor lobby near the Concourse Steakhouse. A group of people were sitting at a group of chairs and when they got up to leave they left a young girl behind. My sister and I tried to figure out if they forgot her. My sister finally went over and asked her if she was with those other people. She went to the restaurant and informed the CM that the girl appeared to be alone and my sis went off to try and locate her grandparents (who she said she was with). Eventually she went over to the small partition wall of the restaurant and climbed up on a bench to talk to her grandparents who were eating lunch on the other side. That little girl (maybe 4 years old) could have easily been snatched by someone.

So yes, I do believe it's possible for a child to be kidnapped while in her stroller. Some times parents/grandparents/relatives just aren't paying close enough attention.

 

[jultomzach]

Go to add this story about "missing" children at Disney. Last December, as I was checking into the Dolphin, a young girl about 10 years old came to the desk. She asked the check in staff to call her room. When the staff asked why, she said "my father wanted to take a nap and he said I could walk around for one hour and then go back to the room. When I went back to the room, he is not answering the door" The staff asked what is your name? room number? how long have you been by yourself. She said she had been by herself for over 2 hours!!! It was handled so well by the staff as if it was routine (He said because you are only 10 years old you can not be alone without an adult. I am going to find a nice woman to stay with you here in the lobby and we will go get your father to meet you here). Now being next in line, I had to comment "Is is because I am a social worker in child welfare or is that just crazy?". The staff told me this happens fairly frequently and they have a standard protocal for it. Even more frightening was some of the stories he told me of what they discover the father doing in the room (which is why they do not take the child to the room with a key!)

 

[TammyC]

I wondered how long it would take for someone to suggest that I was making this up.

I am just telling you what the officer from the Sheriff's Office told me, that a child had been kidnapped. He stated very specifically that she had been kidnapped, not lost. If you choose not to believe me, that's your choice.

I was just reading through this thread, and did wonder if your post was a joke, because you said "He then proceeded to question us to determine whether or not my daughter was the kidnapped little girl. Of course she was" - but after further reading I guess you meant of course she was YOUR daughter.