Our Child Was Almost Taken
by What happened to Somer Thompson of Orange Park, Jacksonville, FL, might have happened to our child.
My wife and I have celebrated more than 40 years of marriage and the recent horrible story of the fate of Somer Thompson really hit home. Why?
One of our daughters might have been abducted. She’s more than 40 years old now and has grandchildren of her own – our great grandchildren. The outcome, in her case, was almost funny – it so easily might not have been.
Like Somer Thompson of Jacksonville (Orange Park), our daughter was coming home from school. We never learned what actually happened (even she doesn’t really remember everything now) but piecing it together over the years we think this is what took place.
We had taught our children never to talk with strangers much less get into a car with someone they didn’t know – but, you know how that goes. We have no idea if the people involved actually intended to abduct our child or if the whole thing was a mistake – they thought she was someone else. We believe it was the latter.
They stopped, she got in the car but then realized she didn’t know them. She let it be known she didn’t want to be in that car and they let her out about a block from where they picked her up. She walked – actually, I think she ran – home and told us what had happened.
Perhaps we should have, but we didn’t go to the police. In those days, in our area, few children were ever harmed. It was understood that anyone doing so would probably not survive long enough to go to trial.
If they DID make it to court and were sentenced, their life expectancy in prison could probably be measured in hours as someone who hurts a child ranks very low in the prison hierarchy.
A murderer, especially of a law enforcement officer, generally ranks highest but someone who harms a child ranks lower than one who harms a woman except in extreme cases of self defense or defense of another, even lower than a “squealer.” A worm is taller.
(No, I have no firsthand experience; and the Lord willing, I will keep it that way. I’m taking that opinion from reading books by W.E.B. Griffin – the MEN IN BLUE series – and also from asking someone who does know.)
Liked it
-
-
Post CommentNetty net
On October 24, 2009 at 11:14 am
glad to hear that have her back. I hope that catch that sicko that did that to that child.
macbeth25
On October 24, 2009 at 11:56 am
Our daughter was a little more than six at the time,if I remember correctly, and the distance from home to the school was only several blocks. I had walked to school from whenever my family lived close enough — the proverbial several miles through snow — in West Virginia. There was this one towering tree whose limbs had no leaves and when clouds were just right on a cold morning — I knew the darn thing was there and it still scared me — every day. In Alabama I had to walk home from about half way to the school almost every day because the bus leaked exhaust and it’d make me sick. I became good friends with a Billy Goat who ran free along my route. That goat actually chased off some bullies one day and they never bothered me again. My wife had also walked to and from school throughout her entire life so neither of us thought anything of having our children do the same. I really think the people who picked up my daughter simply thought she was someone else and when she complained — man, could she ever complain — they let her out. IRISH BLESSINGS UPON YOU AND YOURS. MAY YOUR ENEMIES BE AFFLICTED WITH ITCHNG WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF SCRATCHING. In case you’re curious, that’s a paraphrase of a real Irish curse. GOOGLE Irish curses for more info.