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Years ago we were living in a small suburban town 30 minutes from the crime capital of America. We felt safe since a river separated us from the big city criminals. Nothing criminal had been reported in that small town since we moved there. Then on a fall Saturday afternoon, our oldest son, age 5, disappeared. His mother and I scoured the neighborhood without luck. We finally called the police. The small town had a small police force but they swung into action immediately. That was small comfort for us because we had no idea where our son was. Despite our prayers we feared the worst about what might be happening to him. After dark, the police solved the mystery. Our son had been playing hide and seek and had fallen asleep. The police found him confused and wandering a nearby street. He had no idea what his disappearance had done to us but we were too grateful to have him back to be angry.

The disappearance last week of Faye Marie Swetlik, 6, brought back to us those anxious hours we endured. Faye had left the school bus near her home in Churchill Heights off SC 302 and disappeared. The last video footage available was from a bus security camera. Local police with the assistance of volunteers scoured the neighborhood and woods near Interstate 26. They knocked on doors, interviewed neighbors, even accompanied trash trucks, checking every container.

Parents can identify with her family’s worst fears. All of us hoped she would be found alive and happy to come home. Only those who have endured anything like what they have been through – and will for months and years to come – can begin to imagine what it has been like. About 600,000 people – young and old – are reported missing in the United States each year. Many are never found. Even more frightening, about 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That’s more than 2,000 a day. 115 children become stranger abduction victims each year. That means the child was taken by an unknown kidnapper. Of 15,207 people now missing in the US, 60% are male and 40% female. Their average age is around 34.

At this writing, we know little. Cayce law enforcement has been sensitive to public fears. As the case has unfolded, they have tried to keep everyone informed without compromising their investigation. For Faye’s parents, their tragedy includes never seeing her grow up, go to her 1st dance, suffer through her 1st crush, find the career and the man of her dreams and some day give them grandchildren. In memory, Faye will always be the little 6-year-old pixie in a black shirt and polka dot boots with an innocent grin. All parents dream of what their children might achieve. A mother thinks about this while her child is still in her womb. It is more than an imaginative exercise. It is the stuff of parents’ dreams.

Next: Fake news .

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