We were all delighted and astonished to hear of the rescue of 29-year-old Jaycee Dugard after being held by her captor for more than 18 years. She was kidnapped in 1991 at age 11 by Philip Garrido, who had held her until August. Her safe return, along with that of her two daughters that were fathered by Garrido during her captivity, was nothing short of miraculous.
However, I find part of the media’s reaction to this stirring event a little disturbing. In the weeks since Jaycee’s rescue, they have trotted out one set of parents after the other to talk about their hopes for seeing their own long-missing son or daughter returned as well. They seem to think that Jaycee’s return is a reason to believe that this is possible. I fear that these people – egged on by the media – are holding out false hopes and lying to themselves.
Now, is it possible that another child who has been missing for a number of years can also return? Well … yeah … it’s possible. But it’s also possible that any one of us could win the lotto. Actually, there’s probably a better chance that any of these grieving parents will win the Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot than that they will ever see their missing child again. In others words, the chances are infinitesimal.
Despite what they might want to believe and the media might want us to think, Jaycee’s return did not change those odds one iota. Her rescue was an isolated incident. It was a one-in-a-billion event that will ultimately have no impact on the status of anyone else’s missing child. I’m sorry if I seem a bit negative or cynical here, but that’s just the reality of the situation. Someone has to play the part of the little boy who points out to the emperor that he’s walking around buck naked.
Think about it for a minute. Off the top of your head, can you name another child who returned safely after being taken by a stranger more than five years earlier? Go ahead, think real hard. Think until steam comes out of your ears if you would like. There may be cases like this, but most of us would have to do some research to uncover them. My point is that events like this are extremely rare and will remain that way. To believe otherwise is to have false hope. Of course, some people would say that false hope is better than no hope at all. I say it ain’t.
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