Missing 5 year old child
Operator: 911 what is your emergency?
Caller: I can’t find my daughter.
This is very likely to be reliable (90%) on its form.
At the time of this call, the mother cannot find her. We wait for her to ask for help and to facilitate the flow of information to find her.
Operator: When was the last time you seen her?
Caller: We were, we were with her at the park and people say that somebody, probably somebody took her.
This is a very strong indicator of parental neglect. She offers that "somebody" (gender neutral) took her, qualified with "probably." Here we may expect the mother to express concern for the victim and demand/plead that she be found in urgent terms.
1. A mother of a missing child should speak for herself. (maternal instinct)
2. The need for plurality is associated with the need to lessen guilt by dilution (crowd).
3. "people say" is passive----- she distances herself from her own daughter ("with her" and "we") and from the possible action that caused her to be unable to find her daughter.
Operator: Ok how old is she?
Caller: She’s five years old.
Operator: Ok and what park are you at?
Caller: Here in Bridgeton Park.
Operator: OK where in the Bridgeton Park are you?
Caller: Umm... The one with the basketball court where the high school is.
Operator: Ah OK so you’re at the basketball courts behind the high school?
Caller: Yes.
Mom is compliant with questions and no further. She is not offering information.
Operator: Ok, and what was she seen last wearing?
Caller: (pauses) …She was wearing um…, umm, give me a second (speaks to another person in Spanish). I don’t remember what clothes she was wearing, but she was wearing, I just remember her pants, she was wearing like a flower, flowery pants, and some heels, some white heels.
The neglect is affirmed. The pauses are viewed in context of the urgent need to find a missing 5 year old, one incapable of self protection.
Operator: Ok ma’am stay on the line I will transfer you over to the police.
Operator: And you said she was five correct?
Caller: Yes.
Police: Hello ma’am, did you she which direction your child went?
Caller: No we were in the car she, she came down with my son. They were running to the park and then me and my sister we came down. So whe, whe, when we got here at the park she wasn’t here. They said, they said that my son was just crying with his ice cream, because somebody spilled his ice cream on the floor and my daughter just ran away.
Mom is very likely willing to blame others --this should be a strategy in the interview.
Police: OK hold on.
Analysis Conclusion:
The mother is withholding information from police while her daughter is missing. This information is in context to her own status.
What is being withheld is her own responsibility/connection to the victim.
The mother does not ask for help for the victim, nor does she express concern over what her daughter is currently experiencing.
The mother is more concerned with her own status rather than the victim's. Being against maternal instinct, it does not bode well for the victim.
Substance abuse should be explored. Mother's lack of personal responsibility consistent with self preservation and lack of parental capacity for protection.
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