The NCMEC brochure that deals with the problem of parental kidnapping is entitled "The Kid is with a Parent - How Bad Can it Be?" This is an apt title, as it addresses the issue of people assuming parents only abduct for good reasons. However, nothing could be further from the truth. To drive this point home, I will show some statistics of the cases on our site's family abduction pages. It becomes clear at this detailed look that these are not ordinary parents.

At the time of this essay, the Adam Haseeb Memorial Pages consisted of 23 pages of case files, with fifteen children to a page. Since multiple children can be part of one case, there are only 265 total cases listed. All are at least six months old; 262 are at least a year old, 192 are at least five years old, and 134 are at least nine years old. The oldest case is from 1983. 133 involve a female child or a group of female children, 112 a male child or a group of male children, and 25 involve both male and female children. Of the cases, 162 were abducted by their mothers, 85 were abducted by their fathers, 3 by two grandparents, 3 by a parent and stepparent or significant other, 2 by both parents, 4 by grandmothers, 3 by a parent and grandparent, and 3 by stepfathers. In two cases the abductor was unknown.

The abductors were as a group possessed of significant pathology. Out of the 265 cases, 23 of the abductors had a history of violence or violent behavior, 9 and had such a history that a caution advised was merited on the case file. 16 abductors were wanted for other crimes. Most were not specifically mentioned, but four were also wanted in alleged participation in homicide. 30 abductors were suspected of or had a history of child abuse. 11 had substance addiction issues. 8 took the child or children during a supervised visitation. Mental illness or mental instability was the most common factor noticed. 71 cases had some element of emotional disturbance in the abductor. While many think abuse accusations are common in these cases, it was noted in only 11 cases.

This data is by no means definitive, as many cases had limited details. However, there is enough to indicate that the children in these cases are not safe with the non-custodial parent.

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