Internet Safety News
Search for Online Romance Leads to Fake Kidnapping
by Christine Loftus
A 17-year-old high school student's search for love online has lead to the arrest of 19-year-old Larry Burcham, who has been accused of faking the girl's kidnapping.1 Apparently the scheme was hatched for money and an alibi for the girl. The two made contact in a chatroom online in early February. By February 9 they had made arrangements to meet secretly. That night Burcham and a friend showed up outside the home the girl shared with her family. The girl snuck out a window and went with them back to Burcham's apartment. After her parents reported her missing, her father received a message via the Internet from a person law enforcement believes was Burcham claiming to have the girl and offering her release for $200. Burcham also posted a picture of the girl on the Internet for her father and instructed him to drive to pick her up at his apartment building. The girl's parents contacted law enforcement on the way to pick up their daughter.2
Anita Carpenter, chief executive officer of the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault, says this case points out the dangers of trying to find romance anonymously over the Internet. She comments that chatrooms are sometimes harbors for people who "have an intimate fear of relationships because they've been burned and are vulnerable."3 These people perceive the communication with people they meet online to be safe and therefore develop enough trust in their online acquaintances to meet them face-to-face. Carpenter also referred to a case in which a predator built an online relationship with a child and located her simply by asking her the name of her softball team and the position she played. From that information it was simple for him to just show up at a game.4
1Fake abduction plot unravels.
The Indianapolis Star. February 25, 2003, http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/5/025275-6965-102.html.
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
4Ibid.
Christine Loftus is a research assistant/editor for the Parents & Educators component of the NetSmartz Workshop® at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®.
