Years ago, I found out about the kidnapping of a young girl on her way to school in Northeast Indiana. After a few days, her body was discovered in central Indiana. She was sexually assaulted and murdered. I asked why this happened. I wondered how this could happen on the way to school when other children and adults are out in full force.

This crime happened before budget cuts eliminated buses, putting more children at risk of kidnapping. Walking to school should be safe every day. These budget cuts that make children more vulnerable to predators need to be rectified. These cuts should not have been allowed. I happen to live in a state where the governor has used his authority to make deep cuts in the educational process just because the elected state superintendent received more votes than he did. This is shameful.

I couldn’t help but wonder how something like this could have been prevented. Children need a way to draw attention to situations that put them at risk. The young woman was known to one of the kidnappers. It is likely that she knew at least one of the kidnappers. I’m not convinced the girl would agree to take her.

Within days, local authorities approached a suspect. The man who was approached by the authorities did not allow them to enter his residence. Authorities returned with a search warrant. What they found was not easy to understand. The suspect’s wife and their three children were found at his residence, murdered. The suspect was arrested and formally imprisoned.

The kidnapped girl lived very close to the suspect. It was published that one of the suspect’s daughters was in the same class as the kidnapped girl and that they were friends.

I had three daughters. I constantly stressed the importance of safety. His rebuttal was that we lived in a small town and those things did not happen here. Our city is 20 miles from the street this happened. He was still pondering why this happened and why he felt the need to understand and provide a means to prevent this from happening again.

Then I remembered a time when my oldest daughter told me that a schoolmate and also a girl had confided in her that sexual abuse was taking place in her home. This was in the late 1980s. My answer was wow, what prompted her to tell you? I learned that the class had a segment on good touch and bad touch. My daughter was crying because she felt so sorry for the girl in her class. In discussing why it was important to let someone in a position of authority know, my X came in and demanded that the conversation not go ahead and that we not be allowed to tell anyone.

I began to pay attention to the girl and other family members when I had the opportunity to do so. To this day, I can still visualize the mother’s facial expressions and body language as she sat during morning mass in the back of the church. Her cheeks were red and swollen from crying. Stress, despair, and unhappiness seeped around her. His behavior was that of a battered canine. During a birthday party at McDonald’s, I noticed an older brother of about 11 years old in the portable playpen crawling on his belly like a snake around the child. I also noticed strange behavior from another brother. When the older brother was in high school, he was arrested for sexual misconduct with a minor. I never saw the father’s name in our newspaper for similar charges.

It occurred to me that a similar program could have been provided to the class of the kidnapped girl and the suspect’s daughter. I don’t know what really happened. I have a strong feeling that the daughter entrusted it to her friend and possibly her mother. The suspect found out and began to eliminate everyone who could be a threat.

I was a salesman at a Farmer’s Market in the city where the crimes occurred for a couple of years. A man stopped by my area and asked about the personal protection products I had on display. I explained and commented on why I thought children should wear a loud alarm or whistle to protect themselves from predators who prey on children. The knight mentioned the kidnapped girl by name. I recognized that it was the incident I was referring to. He told me he was the detective in charge of that case. I told him what I thought were the reasons that led to the result. I told him that I didn’t think the girl would agree to take her. He let me know that they knew each other. He wondered if anyone would have realized what was happening even with a loud audible device. That is a question that will never be answered.

The suspect later hanged himself in jail prior to trial.