While people are searching a body of water for a missing child, might the child still be alive somewhere else and in danger?
At what point should all focus be on searching nearby lakes and ponds for a missing child?
Obviously, time is of the essence if a child is in the water, struggling to stay afloat, especially if the water is very cold.
Drowning can occur in minutes. Brain death occurs soon after if there is no resuscitation.
But it’s also possible that while the search for a missing child is being concentrated on a body of water near the child’s home, that the child is alive elsewhere – and in immediate danger:
• In the presence of a pedophile who’s intending on murdering him or her.
• Is wandering the streets alone, at risk for being hit by a car or injured in some other way.
• May not be at risk for being hit or injured, but has a medical condition such as diabetes that needs immediate attention.
Minutes are crucial in the above hypothetical but realistic scenarios.
So the fair question is at what point should search parties, including the family, turn their attention from the streets to the local lake or pond?
“If a body of water is in the area and searchers’ access to shoreline, they are more likely to save or prevent the child from entering the water if done in an expeditious fashion,” explains Robert Siciliano, CEO of Safr.Me.com and an expert in fraud prevention and personal safety.
If a child is discovered missing soon after they are seen in the vicinity of a body of water, this advice applies.
If the parents know that they are only minutes behind their missing child, then straight to the lake they should go—unless they have reason to believe that their missing son or daughter has headed elsewhere.
Not all kids will head straight for a lake when they wander off. They may head straight for a nearby busy highway and try to cross it.
Where do you search first: the water or the highway? This is a tough decision that may be decided on unique factors such as:
• Can the child swim?
• Is the water freezing, full of ice?
• Is the child autistic or otherwise drawn to water?
• Is the child afraid to go into bodies of water?
• Has he or she recently expressed a desire to go someplace that requires crossing the nearby highway?
• Have they crossed the highway alone before?
• Do they have a history of running off to the lake?
• Is there a nearby construction site or burned-down building that they’ve expressed interest in?
• Is it most likely they’ve wandered off to some nearby woods?
What if the parents don’t know when the child went missing? This happens all too often. For example, the parents awaken at 9 am (went to bed late, were tired) and discover that seven-year-old Kolton is missing.
They have no idea when he left (or was taken) from the house. He normally awakens at 6 am. He could be three hours ahead of them. Or five minutes.
The neighborhood lake is a five minute walk from the house. The nearest highway is a 10 minute trot.
And maybe the neighborhood isn’t the best. And perhaps the parents know that there are a few registered sex offenders living in the neighborhood.
What makes this situation even more harrowing is when there’s possibly more lead time in between when a child might have gone missing and when this is discovered.
There are cases when the parents realize, at some point mid-day or early in the evening, that their young child is nowhere in the house.
When did he or she depart? Unfortunately, there are cases where the departure has gone unnoticed for many hours.
There are also cases in which the parents tack onto that a few hours of their own searching before contacting authorities.
After all these hours, what is the likelihood that this missing child will be found alive at the nearby lake?
• Maybe they just arrived at the lake.
• Maybe they’ve been there for hours, playing at the shoreline.
• Maybe they arrived hours ago and immediately went into the water and drowned.
But if they’re nowhere near the lake, they may still be alive (no chance of drowning on dry land)—either alone and lost somewhere in the city or at the mercy of an abductor (which is actually the least likely scenario). And sometimes, their body is discovered on dry land.
After hours have lapsed, one might think that the search comes down to either 1) Searching the nearby water for a lifeless body, or 2) Searching the streets for leads to a live but endangered child.
There are no easy answers, and a child gone missing is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone.
Robert Siciliano is a private investigator fiercely committed to informing, educating and empowering people to protect themselves and their loved-ones from violence and crime — both in their physical and virtual interactions.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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