Steffan Hou - Moms of the Missing

July 19

Ed is joined in this archive show by Steffen Hou, who has spent many years studying killers, particularly those who kill children. This has resulted in his book Moms of the Missing, a sort of how to parent and look after your children, with knowledge gained from the most tragic circumstances. In the book, Mr Hou talks to those the children left behind, scarred people, ever-searching parents, guardians and family members, all with one thing in common; they hold out hope - no matter how slim and unlikely - that they will see their child again.

"Oh my God, we found a dead body." The man's voice, calling from a mountain trail in Cleveland National Forest, was frantic. "Please hurry. I'm so scared. It's a little kid." When police arrived, they were met by a horrific sight. The girl was naked and had been positioned in such a way that detectives believed the murderer had seen his kill as some kind of a trophy. As if he were showing off his "work". The little kid was Samantha Runnion, a five-year-old girl who had been abducted while playing in her parents' garden the day before.

Samantha is just one of too many American kids who disappear. Almost half a million children are reported missing every year. And all across America parents are searching for their missing children or if the worst case scenario has come to pass the person who killed them.

Moms of the Missing investigates ten abduction cases. Through personal and heartbreaking interviews with the victims, it describes how parents maintain their hopes of one day finding their children some of whom were taken by a stranger, a family member, or human traffickers. And two survivors tell what it is like to be held captive, tortured and raped, but also how they have restored life after being rescued.

Moms of the Missing explores the principal types of abductions, and not of least importance who's most likely to become a victim of the epidemic of missing children, but also how abductions can be prevented.

Moms of the Missing is parent's guide to keeping children safe and puts focus on:

* CHILD PROTECTION
* FAMILY ABDUCTIONS
* STRANGER ABDUCTIONS
* INFANT ABDUCTIONS
* HUMAN TRAFFICKING
* THE SEX OFFENDERS
* ONLINE DANGER
* DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
* THE MOST LIKELY VICTIM
* LONG-TERM MISSING
* THE PROFILE OF AN ABDUCTOR
* THE IMPACT OF DNA

Book : Moms of the Missing