Athena Strand, a sevenyear- old little girl from Wise County, Texas was reported missingfromherstepmother on November 30. After authorities and volunteers launched a two-day search, her body wasfoundamere 10 miles away from her father’s home.
Authorities arrested Tanner Horner, a 30-year-old contract Fed Ex driver was arrested after allegedly confessing to kidnapping and murdering Athena. He is currently facing charges for Capital Murder and Aggravated Kidnapping.
The Child Crime Prevention and Safety Center reported that every 40 seconds, a child is abducted. Safe at last reported that approximately eight million children are reported missing each year. In the United States alone, more than 2300 children go missing every day.
It is also reported that parents and guardians are accountable for 90 percent of the abductions, while strangers only account for 10 percent.
This incident just happened to be the one percent. Horner told authorities that he did not know Athena or her family. Allegedly, he was delivering a package to her father’s residence and saw Athena, so he kidnapped her.
Missingkids.org gives likely scenarios for child abductions. Many abductions occur more often when a child is walking to or from school or school-related activities. Thegreatestrisktimeframes are on school days before and after school - 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. - and after dinner - 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
It is also reported that many abductions happen while children are playing, walking or riding bikes on the street. Younger children aremorelikelytobeabducted while playing or walking with a parent, and schoolage children are more apt to be abducted while walking alone or with peers.
There are a few steps parents and guardians can take to reduce the risk of their child getting abducted. For centuries, adults have told children about stranger danger.
However, it is more than that. Parents and guardians need to tell their children not to approach just anyone. If they need help, seek out a uniformed police officer.
Again, parents don’t need to just tell the child to stay away from strangers. They should tell their children to get specific instructions from the parent before going anywhere with anybody.
Children should be taught to pay attention, instead of assuming they can automatically tell that somebody is a bad seed. Let the child know that they should tell their parent or a police officer if anyone asks them to keep a secret, makes them feel uncomfortable, or tries to get the child to leave with them.
It is also suggested that the adults use role-playing scenarios to help the children practice abduction prevention skills.