Our Children: Not to Be the Next Amber Alert

The sad news of another child abducted is on every news channel again; a little 7 year old girl missing in Florida. A body was found yesterday, but as of this morning, has yet to be identified. The pending autopsy will bring sorrow and misery to another family... If it is not this little girl, then it is someone else's little child.

Children are sweet angels in life, and should not have to be preyed upon. Children should be allowed to play free and love being a child, but that cannot happen in this day and age. When children are left alone, they are preyed upon and later found dead... bodies dumped; sometimes never found.

I pray that this little girl, Somer, is found alive and well; sulking because she had a fight with her friends. No child should have to go through the horrors we read about in the evening news.

Please- everyone who has a child, or helps to take care of a child, please remember that there are predators lurking around every corner and waiting for the right time to pounce.

My son, who is 8, is finally old enough to help me in the grocery store. I let him go and pick a loaf of bread or a box of cereal, unattended, in the next aisle. Not anymore. I am guilty of letting the leash go a bit astray, myself.

Remember: when you let your child run amuck in a store or play outside, unattended by an adult, we take the chance of losing our precious children. Every day I see little ones running free in a store, especially a toy store, or even at the local park. Everyone needs to remember that we are all letting our mice out in full view of hungry cats. Our children are the prey and the pedophiles, molesters and rapists are the predators.

This is a soap box that I refuse to step down from. We are all loving parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. We know better but sometimes need a reminder. I admit that I needed a reminder, too.

Please be diligent and check your neighborhoods at Family Watchdog.com and your local Megan's Law websites. (Click the links to be taken to the websites.)

As an update, I still have the pedophile living about five doors down from me. Legally, there is nothing I can do to have him removed, but there is one thing I can do. I can inform and educate others in my community how to stay alert and keep their children safe. Please, please do the same in your communities and neighborhoods. This is how we can keep our precious angels safe.

If you have other ideas, please let me or your community know. Knowledge is the key.

To read more on my situation, click here.

UPDATE: Sadly, the body that was found was indeed little Somer. I don't know her or her family, but my thoughts and prayers go out to them. Please, please, look up your neighborhoods and learn the faces of the predators; it might save a life!