Losing a child is...
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Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare. Most parents have experienced this at some time in their life -- a child wandering off in the shopping mall, or not coming home as planned after school. But for many parents, losing a child is a great deal more serious.
The National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children estimate that approximately 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States. Of these 800,000 cases of missing children, most (47 percent) fall into the category of runaway and thrownaway (those who are ordered to leave their homes by parents or other adult guardians). 43 percent of the missing children had a benign explanation (any child who was not abducted, thrown away, had run away, or was lost, injured or temporarily separated from their caretaker). Those who were lost or injured accounted for 8 percent of the missing children. Finally, 9 percent of missing children are abducted, either by family members (7 percent) or by strangers (2 percent).
It is interesting to speculate: Did Joseph and Mary report Jesus missing to the authorities, and if they did, which category did they put him into?
