NISMART Bulletin: National Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview

Thus, NISMART–2 defined a missing child in two ways: first, in terms of those who were missing from their caretakers (“caretaker missing”); and second, in terms of those who were missing from their caretakers and reported to an agency for help locating them (“reported missing”).

NISMART–2 counts a child as missing from the caretaker’s perspective when the child experienced a qualifying episode during which the child’s whereabouts were unknown to the primary caretaker, with the result that the caretaker was alarmed for at least 1 hour and tried to locate the child. For an episode to qualify, the child had to be younger than 18 and the situation had to meet the specific criteria for one of the following NISMART–2 episode types (summarized in the Definitions of Episode Types):

Nonfamily abductions (including a subcategory, stereotypical kidnappings).
Family abductions.
Runaway/thrownaway episodes.
Missing involuntary, lost, or injured events.
Missing benign explanation situations.

A caretaker missing child was considered to be reported missing if a caretaker contacted the police or a missing children’s agency to locate the child. Note that the category “reported missing” does not include children who were reported to the police for reasons other than locating the missing child, e.g., to report an incident as a crime or simply to recover a child whose whereabouts were known.

Not all children who experience qualifying NISMART–2 episodes can be classified as caretaker missing. For example, when a child is abducted by a family member, the caretaker may know very well where the child is but may be unable to retrieve the child. The parent of a runaway child may not know the child’s whereabouts but may not be alarmed or try to find the child. These children would not be counted among the caretaker missing children in NISMART–2 because they fail to meet one or more of the three criteria noted above: the child’s whereabouts must be unknown, the caretaker must be alarmed for at least 1 hour, and the caretaker must attempt to locate the child. In addition, to ensure that minor misunderstandings would not inflate the estimates, those who became missing because of benign reasons were only considered to be missing if police were contacted about the episode.

To summarize, NISMART–2 conceptualizes children in terms of three nested classes: The largest set comprises all children with a qualifying NISMART–2 episode who may or may not be missing (e.g., a child runs away from home).³ Within that group, some children meet the additional criteria that classify them as caretaker missing children (the runaway child’s parent notices the child is gone, does not know where the child is, becomes alarmed for at least an hour, and tries to find the child). Finally, within that group of caretaker missing children, a subset meets the further requirement that qualifies the children as reported missing (the parent calls the police or a missing children’s agency to help locate the child).

NISMART–2 Definitions of Episode Types

Nonfamily Abduction
A nonfamily abduction occurs when a nonfamily perpetrator takes a child by the use of physical force or threat of bodily harm or detains a child for at least 1 hour in an isolated place by the use of physical force or threat of bodily harm without lawful authority or parental permission; or when a child who is younger than 15 years old or is mentally incompetent, without lawful authority or parental permission, is taken or detained by or voluntarily accompanies a nonfamily perpetrator who conceals the child’s whereabouts, demands ransom, or expresses the intention to keep the child permanently.

Stereotypical Kidnapping
A stereotypical kidnapping occurs when a stranger or slight acquaintance perpetrates a nonfamily abduction in which the child is detained overnight, transported at least 50 miles, held for ransom, abducted with intent to keep the child permanently, or killed.

Family Abduction
A family abduction occurs when, in violation of a custody order, a decree, or other legitimate custodial rights, a member of the child’s family, or someone acting on behalf of a family member, takes or fails to return a child, and the child is concealed or transported out of State with the intent to prevent contact or deprive the caretaker of custodial rights indefinitely or permanently. (For a child 15 or older, unless mentally incompetent, there must be evidence that the perpetrator used physical force or threat of bodily harm to take or detain the child.)

Runaway/Thrownaway
A runaway incident occurs when a child leaves home without permission and stays away overnight; or a child 14 years old or younger (or older and mentally incompetent) who is away from home chooses not to return when supposed to and stays away overnight; or a child 15 years old or older who is away from home chooses not to return and stays away two nights. A thrownaway incident occurs when a child is asked or told to leave home by a parent or other household adult, no adequate alternative care is arranged for the child by a household adult, and the child is out of the household overnight; or a child who is away from home is prevented from returning home by a parent or other household adult, no adequate alternative care is arranged for the child by a household adult, and the child is out of the household overnight.

Missing Involuntary, Lost, or Injured
A missing involuntary, lost, or injured episode occurs when a child’s whereabouts are unknown to the child’s caretaker and this causes the caretaker to be alarmed for at least 1 hour and try to locate the child, under one of two conditions: (1) the child was trying to get home or make contact with the caretaker but was unable to do so because the child was lost, stranded, or injured; or (2) the child was too young to know how to return home or make contact with the caretaker.

Missing Benign Explanation
A missing benign explanation episode occurs when a child’s whereabouts are unknown to the child’s caretaker and this causes the caretaker to (1) be alarmed, (2) try to locate the child, and (3) contact the police about the episode for any reason, as long as the child was not lost, injured, abducted, victimized, or classified as runaway/thrownaway.

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National Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview	NISMART Bulletin October 2002