How come these stories never have a happy ending. Just a few hours after a candlelight vigil was held last night, the body of 12 year old Autumn Pasquale was found in a recycling container not far from her home which she was last seen at on Saturday morning when she rode away on her bike. When she did not return that night, her parents reported her missing, and the girl who was set to turn 13 next week was the subject of a massive search. Police have interviewed a huge number of people but have not said if they have any suspects. The past few weeks have really made me question what has happened to the world. When I was a kid, there were people out there who were creeps and killers, but you still felt safe to leave your house and be gone all day and parents wouldn't worry. Now, I'm not so sure if you should not home school your child, never let them on the internet and probably move to the Arctic.
I don't know if it's happening more, or if it is just getting more press now.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I was out all day every day during the summer. When I became a mom I was terrified to let them leave the house, much less the street. If they went out to play, had to stay in the backyard.
ReplyDeleteI think it is Train that has a line in one of their songs about kids not playing outside unless they disappear.
It's totally the 24 hour news cycle that we have now. These horrible, horrible things have always happened you just didn't always see it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a rough morning in the Philly area. First this story about the body of poor Autumn being found and then there's the missing 10 month old in King of Prussia. She was kidnapped from her home and her grandmother was killed. She's still missing and I pray it doesn't end up like Autumn.
ReplyDeleteHold your kids close.
It sure is Jj. I really hope they find that baby. Her father was in the news this morning begging for them to bring her home. Broke my heart
DeleteI think people get so worked up about 'stranger danger' but most abuse and killing are by people they know, (not that I'm suggesting in this case its someone they know). I'd be hardpressed to let kids onto internet without a lot of supervision and filters, and I would monitor to keep an eye on bullying/ inappropriate stuff.
ReplyDeleteAs Henriette and Dee said: Child murders and abductions are no more common now than they ever were. There are fewer than 100 bona fide stranger abductions of children each year in the USA. Cold comfort if it happens to you, but for the rest of us there are more important risks to worry about. Consider the consequences: the 24-hour saturation news coverage makes everyone cower in fear, they keep the kids inside, the kids get fat, they develop type 2 diabetes, and they die an early death!
ReplyDeleteThat poor girl! Why does this keep happening? I feel like there's been so much murder, shootings and kidnappings the last few months. So sad.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid we ran around in packs like wild dogs.
ReplyDelete@Zorbitor
ReplyDeleteWasn't that the truth?
And every person on my street knew every kid on the street by name.
I am not even that old.
Anyway, this poor girl. May she rest peacefully.
I was an only child w/ an overprotective mom and I was allowed out of sight for hours at a time all the time when I was that age (even younger) in Philly. I now have 2 boys, 10 and 8, and they are only allowed up and down our street or in the yard and must always stay together. I hate that I'm that over protective but I just can't seem to help it. I agree that things haven't gotten worse and we just hear about it more, now...but what else to do? Poor girl and her poor family. :(
ReplyDeleteSame here B. I was allowed to go to my around my neighborhood on my bike and back and NEVER by myself.
DeleteI don't think things have gotten worse in terms of horrific crimes like this, I think it's really just reported more.
ReplyDeleteITA with Rosemary Young. The things to really worry about are more close at hand and insidious. If I had kids, I'd also be very worried about cyber bullying and the nonsense that goes on on Facebook.
This poor, darling little girl.
This poor girl and her family. It makes me so angry that people would hurt a child...or anyone for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI was sooooo very lucky to be able to grow up in the day and age when I could leave all day and not come home until 9pm in the summer. We played kick the can and ran the entire neighborhood. No worries.
Why do you think it's the way it is now-a-days? Why was it so much safer at one point, and now we can't even let our kids go from door to door to sell girl scout cookies on their own?
She looks just like my niece. Same glasses and everything, AND she lives in NJ. I hate that we need to worry so much about these things. Some of my friends who say they are too selfish to have kids are on to something sometimes. These stories break my heart. It makes me a little overprotective of my son, but what can I do? Teach him the best I can, but still....
ReplyDeleteMan these stories make me feel sick now that I'm a mother. My husbands mom was super over protective and I make fun of him because she wouldn't let him go away by himself until he was sixteen. But in reality I am probably going to be the same way. I couldn't stand the thought of my babies in danger.
ReplyDelete@B, I would rather be remembered as the strict parent helping plan a wedding or giving college advice than the nice mom who had to pick out a cemetery plot for their child.
ReplyDelete@Rosemary Young, or develop a vitamin D deficiency like one of my kids. Nothing that a vitamin dose for a month can't fix, or sunshine.
It's hard for me to let my 9 and 11 yr olds go out without me. But they do walk to and from school (10 minute walk) every day, and I let my son get himself to scout meetings on his own. As for internet? Always on our kitchen computer and nowhere else. I doubt I will be able to completely protect them, kids are mean.
ReplyDeleteWell I guess I'm going to have a chubby kid with diabetes because I'm going to be a mom soon and my child is, unfortunately, going to be living in a bubble. =/
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about this poor girl. I live about 5 milea from Clayton. They found her bike. I've heard rumors that they've found two suspects.
ReplyDeleteOh Enty, I've decided not to have any kids, what's the point? so they can suffer? This world is no place for any innocent human life
ReplyDeleteit's not that things are worse now, they just get more press. The world never changes, unfortunately. This kind of story has been happening all through history.
ReplyDeleteMy heart breaks for this family and all the families who have lost a child, specially this way. As a mom these stories really make me paranoid and my children will not be walking to school alone for a long time. It's sad we have to be so overprotective with our kids but whether for good or bad, the media has opened our eyes to what is happening out there to kids and we must be on guard.
ReplyDeleteIt's all relative. If every generation knew what their kids would face we would have stopped procreating decades ago. Stories like this make me pay more attention to my kids & others. I'm more watchful outside when we play, and I give a lot of cars and strangers long hard looks. Not just for my kid, but all kids. It takes a village, neighborhood, whatever. We should be there for each other as parents, to help, watch out for each other. So sad for her parents, friends.
ReplyDelete@CAMCOLTY - IS THAT ONE OF YOUR BABIES IN YOUR PIC? omg THOSE CHEEKS... I think the 24 hour news access is a double edged word. We hear more about this stuff BUT we also can help by hearing about it. It's all so sad and I am praying that the 10 mth old from KOP is found healthy.
ReplyDeleteHaha yep that's my youngest. 6 months and 25 pounds !! He's off the charts for weight and height.
DeleteA friend of mine told me that her mother always told her to never talk to strangers, but never explained why: BECAUSE THEY CAN TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME.
ReplyDeleteI once watched what I thought was a very good documentary on HBO called, How to raise a street smart child". I'm going to email them and ask them to rebroadcast it and to make it available on Netflix streaming.
This could possibly one of those stories where she was online and went to meet someone. I believe one of the problems could be the internet. The internet can be a dangerous place. Many of us didn't have the internet growing up like these kids do today. You can go in a chat room or a message board and talk to complete strangers and agree to go and meet them and get raped and/or killed. I grew up using computers, but I the internet was really nonexistent until I was much older. Growing I had a pen-pal and that was as far as it went.
ReplyDeleteNews conference on now. I'll keep you guys posted. Its looking like child on child crime.
ReplyDeleteTwo brothers lured her intp their house and strangled her. Ages 15 and 17. Tragic.
ReplyDeleteUgh, they murdered her over bike parts. Disgusting.
ReplyDeletePrayers for the boys' mother who turned them in to police. She must be going thru hell.
Now, on to finding that baby from KoP
Yes. Saavni. I hope they find her shes just a little darling.
ReplyDeleteFunny, when I was a kid adults were always saying how different it was when they were kids and how they just couldn't let their kids run around alone because of how horrible the world had gotten. I venture to guess that thirty years from now, people will say the same thing. We romanticize our childhoods and always think the world has gotten worse as we become adults. There is evidence that we have become less violent and more tolerant.
ReplyDeleteupdate..it wasn't stranger danger..it was. 15y/o and a 17 y/o who strangled her over a bike. The suspects mom saw their facebook page and called the cops
ReplyDeleteIt's especially sickening that kids did this, and for %^$*(#@ bicycle parts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, we ran around all the time, and one time a super creepy guy was hanging around giving donuts to little girls who would go into an abandoned house with him for a few minutes. God only knows what happened to them. It's definitely the news coverage that's gone up. Violent crime has been on the decline for quite a while now.
ReplyDeleteAwesome site with methods on teaching kids to be safe: http://www.checklistmommy.com/2012/02/09/tricky-people-are-the-new-strangers/
ReplyDeleteJust to add my two cents... I work with at risk children in California and have a background in infant mental health. I feel that the increase in these horrible crimes aganist children is due in part to increased media coverage, especially coverage about crimes in small, peaceful towns. I also feel that the US is producing exponentially more individuals With mental health issues than ever before in recorded history. The mental health system is so fractured and difficult to access, especially for individuals without access to medical insurance. If every American had access to health care, including mental health and addiction services, this world would be a much safer place for all children....
ReplyDelete