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Shannon said a quick prayer,
"God please get me home safe." She saw the
porch light burning and ran the rest of the way to her
house. Once inside, she leaned against the door for a
moment, relieved to be in the safety of her home. She
glanced out the window to see if anyone was there. The
sidewalk was empty. After tossing her books on the sofa,
she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on
under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy
List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant
message:
ByAngel213:
Hi I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following
me home today. It was really weird!
GoTo123: LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be
following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?
ByAngel213:
Of course I
do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see
anybody when I looked out.
GoTo123: Unless you gave your name out on-line. You
haven't done that have you?
ByAngel213: Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.
GoTo123: Did you have a softball game after school today?
ByAngel213: Yes and we won!!
GoTo123: That's great! Who did you play?
ByAngel213: We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms
are so gross! They look like bees. LOL
GoTo123: What is your team called?
ByAngel213: We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on
our uniforms. They are really kewl.
GoTo123: Did you pitch?
ByAngel213: No I play second base. I got to go. My
homework has to be done before my parents get home. I
don't want them mad at me. Bye!
GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye
Meanwhile......
GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for
her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and
printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down
what he knew about Angel so far.
Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age:13
State where she lived: North Carolina
Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall.
Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton
because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by
herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents
came home from work. He knew she played softball on
Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was
named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed
on her jersey. He knew she was in the seventh grade at
the Canton Junior High School. She had told him all this
in the conversations they had on-line. He had enough
information to find her now.
Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the
way home from the ball park that day. She didn't want
them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from
the softball games. Parents were always overreacting and
hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only
child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents
wouldn't be so overprotective.
By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps
following her. Her game was in full swing when suddenly
she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the
memory came back. She glanced up from her second base
position to see a man watching her closely. He was
leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled
when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she
quickly dismissed the fear she had felt.
After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to
the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked
past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her
name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.
Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was
only a few blocks to Shannon's home, and once he saw
where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get
his car.
Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until
the time came to go to Shannon's house. He drove to a
fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his
move.
Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard
voices in the living room. "Shannon, come
here," her father called. He sounded upset and she
couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the
man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.
"Sit
down," her father began, "this man has just
told us a most interesting story about you." Shannon
moved cautiously to a chair across from the man.
How could he tell her parents anything? She had never
seen him before today!
"Do
you know who I am Shannon?" The man asked.
"No," Shannon answered.
"I am a police officer and your online friend,
GoTo123."
Shannon was stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a
kid my age! He's 14 and he lives in Michigan!"
The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it
wasn't true. You see, Shannon, there are people on- line
who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while
others do it to find kids and hurt them, I belong to a
group of parents who do it to protect kids from
predators. I came here to find you to teach you how
dangerous it is to give out too much information to
people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make
it easy for me to find you. Your name, the school you
went to, the name of your ball team and the position you
played. The number and name on your jersey just made
finding you a breeze."
Shannon was stunned. "You mean you don't live in
Michigan?" He laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh.
It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't
it?"
She nodded.
"I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only
she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her
while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell
anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time
on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out
information a little here and there on-line. Before you
know it, you have told them enough for them to find you
without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've
learned a lesson from this and won't do it again"
"I won't," Shannon promised solemnly.
"Will you tell others about this so they will be
safe too?"
"It's a promise!"
That night Shannon and her dad and Mom all knelt down
together and prayed. They thanked God for protecting
Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.
My Internet Safety Rules:
Never give out my
personal information to anytone online (my
address, phone number, photos of myself, personal
information about myself, my family or vicinity
of my home or school.
I will not agree
to meet anyone that I meet online and will tell
my parents or my teacher if anyone asks me to
meet them.
I will not respond
to messages that contain information or
photographs that make me feel uncomfortable. I
will tell my parents or teacher because I know
they are there to protect me.
Courtesy of The Nation's
Missing Children Organization - 1-800-690-FIND
Become
a Partner:
If you are interested in helping to
place the poster of another missing child on a
tractor-trailer, you may send an e-mail by visiting our Contact page.
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