The “secret” response to kidnapping

Abstract

O ver a year ago newspapers were filled with accounts of the Annie Laurie Hearin kidnapping in Jackson, Mississippi. As of this writing, the 72-year-old victim is still missing, and her husband, attempting to comply with the demands of the perpetrators, has paid more than $1,000,000 to parties presumably unrelated to the crime. We are used to hearing about such incidents from places like Colombia and Lebanon, but most Americans do not realize that kidnappings occur in the U.S. with some frequency. Many are abductions involving child-custody cases or situations involving sex crimes, but many others do center on demands for money. In addition to kidnapping per se, all of us are familiar with the existence of product-tampering extortion threats. One private worldwide security firm indicates that over the past ten years it has been directly involved in 245 kidnapping or extortion cases. Fourteen of their assignments were in the U.S. Clearly, this is only the tip of the iceberg, because the FBI and local police handle most situations on their own. According to the same source, kidnappings in which there is a money demand have increased over the past five or six years. In 1987 alone there were 14 such cases reported after virtually no activity during the two preceding years. Last year, the U.S. ranked sixth in the world in the number of money-demand kidnappings, according to the available statistics (after Colombia, Italy, Lebanon, Peru, and the Philippines). Although experts do not believe there will be an upsurge in the number of kidnappings or extortion threats in the U.S. from international political terrorists, the evidence does point to an increase in criminal activity. Interestingly, sources indicate that terrorist kidnappings are less of a problem here because of the reputation of the FBI, the excellence of our telephone system (which aids in the tracking of malefactors and communications among law-enforcement agencies), and society's hostile attitude toward terrorism. The insurance industry, mostly through the CassidyDavis and Burt Stratton syndicates at Lloyd's, does provide a product that can represent a valuable Companies can ease their responsibilities in the event of kidnapping or extortion by purchasing kidnap/ ransom insurance.