2006 Child Abduction Murder Study

“…In late 1993, the Criminal Division of the Washington State Attorney General's Office undertook a 3-1/2 year research project, partially funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, to study the investigation of child abduction murder cases.

In this first research project, published in 1997, researchers reviewed more than 600 child abduction murder cases across the United States, then interviewed the investigating detectives. This data provided law enforcement valuable insight into what investigative techniques tend to be most productive….”

The follow up study involved an additional 175 solved cases.

Here are some of the interesting findings:

With more killers identified, researchers found threat that the killer will be a friend or acquaintance is nearly equal to that of a stranger.

The probability that the killer’s name will come up during the first week of the investigation has decreased.

The use of pornography by killers as a trigger to murder has increased.

To view a summary or entire study visit 2006 Child Abduction Murder Study