A Missing Child, Steven Stayner

"To survive, abducted children must learn to lie". When people would ask me about my past, I made it up. I now assume people knew I was lying, but no one ever tried to find out why.

Steven Stayner at the age of 7 he was abducted by a Sex Offender and returned home at the age of 14. Steven lived with the Sex offender for 7 years and tells about the situation.

Steven was a good kid. He was just unfortunate to come across a child pedophile. Let's make sure this does not happen again.

"Throughout the seven years, we were constantly moving. We lived in five different towns, in a dozen houses and trailer homes. The minute my abductor felt people were getting too close, we'd pack up. That kind of movement is typical of abductions.

So is a child who's not enrolled in school. "My abductor was careful and made sure I was always enrolled". If people paid attention to my relationship with my 'father' there were clues that something was wrong.

"It was not a normal father-son relationship. And among other things, at 13, I was taller than, and looked nothing like, my 'father'. You should know that most abductors are pedophiles, not psychotic killers. They don't have good relationships with adults. They start out molesting children and graduate to longer abductions. And when they murder children, often it's to get rid of the evidence".

"As is often the case, there were people involved with my abductor who knew the truth. These people could have saved me at any time, but were afraid of legal trouble. You should know that in other cases where people have come forward to save a child, they have not been prosecuted. These people often hold the power of life and death.

"Before I was grabbed, my abductor had been convicted of child molesting. Throughout my abduction, he never stopped molesting other children. Even so, after taking me from my home, abusing me for seven years and abducting another 5-year-old, he served only three and one-half years in jail. He's now one of the 65,000 registered sex offenders free, in California alone.

"Today, no one knows how many missing kids are dead or how many now live as I did. But if you're going to help, you have to be aware of the real nature of stranger abduction and be committed to helping children. While it may be hard for you to tell an abducted child from an abused child, it's not hard to tell a child in trouble. And it's not hard to do something about it. "If you know of, or suspect, there's a situation where a child is in trouble, please call the police."

Steven Stayner, the man who made world news at the age of 7 when he was abducted and returned home at the age of 14, was killed at the age of 21 when a stalled car caused his motorcycle to crash. His experience inspired the tv movie "I Know My First Name is Steven."

Steven was abducted while walking home from school at the age of 7. Let's make sure this does not happen again. Would your child know what to do? Order a free child safety kit from the Polly Klaas Foundation, today