MART

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

October 2002

National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children

J. Robert Flores

OJJDP Administrator

Access OJJDP publications online at ojjdp.ncjrs.org

◆ The number of missing children who were reported missing

in 1999 (i.e., reported to the police or missing children’s agencies in order to locate them) was estimated to be 797,500,

which is equivalent to a rate of 11.4 children per 1,000 in

the U.S. population.

◆ Most of the caretaker missing children became missing

because they ran away (48 percent) or because of benign

misunderstandings or miscommunications about where they

should be (28 percent).

◆ Children who were missing because they became lost or

injured accounted for 15 percent of all caretaker missing

children.

National Estimates of Missing Children

Key findings presented in the NISMART Bulletin National Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview include the following:

◆ The total number of children who were missing from their

caretakers in 1999 (i.e., their caretakers did not know their

whereabouts and were alarmed for at least an hour while

trying to locate them) is estimated to be 1,315,600.

◆ Nearly all of the caretaker missing children (1,312,800 or 99.8

percent) were returned home alive or located by the time the

study data were collected. Only a fraction of a percent (0.2

percent or 2,500) of all caretaker missing children had not

returned home or been located, and the vast majority of these

were runaways from institutions who had been identified in

the survey of juvenile residential facilities.

Highlights From the NISMART Bulletins

The National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART) consist of several

complementary studies designed to estimate the size and nature of the Nation’s missing children problem. NISMART–2,

the second such set of studies (the first, NISMART–1, was conducted in 1988), provides national estimates of missing

children based on surveys of households, juvenile residential facilities, and law enforcement agencies.1 The Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is disseminating a series of Bulletins that summarize findings from

NISMART–2. This Fact Sheet highlights key findings presented in the first four NISMART Bulletins: National Estimates

of Missing Children: An Overview (NCJ 196465), Nonfamily Abducted Children: National Estimates and Characteristics

(NCJ 196467), Children Abducted by Family Members: National Estimates and Characteristics (NCJ 196466), and

Runaway/Thrownaway Children: National Estimates and Characteristics (NCJ 196469).

1 The NISMART–2 studies spanned the years 1997 to 1999. All data were collected to reflect a 12-month period. Because the vast majority of cases were from

studies concentrated in 1999, the Bulletins refer to 1999 as the annual period.
◆ Forty-three percent of the family abducted children were not

considered missing by their caretakers because the caretakers

knew the children’s whereabouts or were not alarmed by the

circumstances.

◆ Forty-four percent of family abducted children were younger

than age 6.

◆ Fifty-three percent of family abducted children were abducted

by their biological father, and 25 percent were abducted by

their biological mother.

◆ Forty-six percent of family abducted children were gone less

than a week, and 21 percent were gone 1 month or more.

Six percent had not yet returned at the time of the survey

interview.

Runaway/Thrownaway Children

Key findings presented in the NISMART Bulletin Runaway/

Thrownaway Children: National Estimates and Characteristics

include the following:

◆ In 1999, an estimated 1,682,900 youth had a runaway/

thrownaway episode (i.e., either ran away from home or were

thrown out by their caretaker). Of these youth, 37 percent

were missing from their caretakers and 21 percent were

reported to authorities for purposes of locating the youth.

◆ Of the total runaway/thrownaway youth, an estimated

1,190,900 (71 percent) could have been endangered during

their runaway/thrownaway episode by virtue of factors such

as substance dependency, use of hard drugs, sexual or physical

abuse, presence in a place where criminal activity was occurring, or very young age (13 or younger).

◆ Youth ages 15–17 made up two-thirds of the youth with

runaway/thrownaway episodes.

For Further Information

The Bulletins present more detailed analyses and explanations

of these findings, including specific definitions of episode types

and information about the methodology used to calculate the

estimates. To view or download the Bulletins, a NISMART

Questions and Answers Fact Sheet, and future NISMART-related

publications, visit OJJDP’s Web site, ojjdp.ncjrs.org.

NISMART

◆ Less than one-tenth (9 percent) of caretaker missing children

were abducted by family members, and only 3 percent were

abducted by nonfamily perpetrators.

Nonfamily Abducted Children

Key findings presented in the NISMART Bulletin Nonfamily

Abducted Children: National Estimates and Characteristics

include the following:

◆ During the study year, there were an estimated 115 stereotypical kidnappings, defined as abductions perpetrated by a

stranger or slight acquaintance and involving a child who was

transported 50 or more miles, detained overnight, held for ransom or with intent to keep the child permanently, or killed.

◆ In 40 percent of stereotypical kidnappings, the child was

killed, and in another 4 percent, the child was not recovered.

◆ An estimated 58,200 children were victims of nonfamily

abduction, defined more broadly to include all nonfamily

perpetrators (friends and acquaintances as well as strangers)

and crimes involving lesser amounts of forced movement or

detention, in addition to the more serious crimes entailed in

stereotypical kidnappings.

◆ Fifty-seven percent of children abducted by a nonfamily perpetrator were missing from caretakers for at least 1 hour, and

21 percent of the abducted children were reported to the

police for help in locating the children.

◆ Teenagers were, by far, the most frequent victims of both

stereotypical kidnappings and nonfamily abductions.

◆ Nearly half of all child victims of stereotypical kidnappings

and nonfamily abductions were sexually assaulted by the

perpetrator.

Children Abducted by Family Members

Key findings presented in the NISMART Bulletin Children

Abducted by Family Members: National Estimates and Characteristics include the following:

◆ An estimated 203,900 children were victims of a family

abduction in 1999. Among these, 117,200 were missing from

their caretakers, and, of these, an estimated 56,500 were

reported to authorities for assistance in locating the children.

NISMART Fact Sheet