[glenra]

Um, can you give any example of these "too common" events? Kidnapping is essentially nonexistent in the US today. And I'm really struggling to think of anybody as famous as Lindberg, but if somebody ever kidnapped for ransom the child of Angelina Jolie or Steve Jobs or Michael Jackson I think we'd have heard about it in the newspaper. Nobody would say "ho-hum, it's just another celebrity kidnapping story..."

[lutusp]

> Kidnapping is essentially nonexistent in the US today.

Wow! I wasn't going to bother replying, but this is egregiously wrong:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kidnappings#2000-2009

There are scores of kidnappings in this list, and it only covers ten years.

> Nobody would say "ho-hum, it's just another celebrity kidnapping story..."

But by wrongly thinking that "Kidnapping is essentially nonexistent in the US today", you did just that.

[glenra]

I should have clarified, I meant kidnapping for money, like the Lindbergh situation. Taking a little kid and leaving a ransom note, hoping to get money from the parents. That almost never happens in the US today, in large part due to the Lindbergh kidnapping. The FBI mades that sort of kidnap an extremely high priority and got quite good at solving such cases, to the point that in the US - unlike many other countries - it is not in any way a sensible business opportunity.

(In Mexico, on the other hand, it is a major business opportunity.)

The vast majority of "missing kid" events you hear about are related to custody battles - the noncustodial parent runs off without permission of the court. There are also a few (though it's quite rare) events of the sort in that list - usually teenagers or adults abducted for sexual purposes.

> There are scores of kidnappings in this list, and it only covers ten years.

There are 26 kidnappings in that list, but nearly half weren't in the US - it includes events in Baghdad, Columbia, Spain, England, and various other places. The 15 events in the US in ten years establish that it happens at least 1.5 times a year in this country of 313 million people.

Meanwhile about 1,000 americans per year are struck by lightning and 100 of those are killed by it. So kidnapping even of all varieties is an exceedingly rare event that we are in all likelihood WAY too afraid of. (In the US, anyway)