News hook: Missing people are always a relevant issue in New York because people see missing ads all the time.

Nut graf: New York is filled with missing children ads in the subways, on telephone poles and restaurants. Most people assume these kids have been kidnapped, when in reality they have left by choice. Why do kids run away from home? Many experts say it’s because they come from abusive households.

Ninety-five percent of missing children cases reported are runaways according to the New York State Missing Persons Clearinghouse Annual Report of 2013. http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/mcannuals/2013-missing-persons-annual-report.pdf (Pages 29-30)

We have been in contact with Walter McClure, Deputy Director of Public Information for the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (walter.mcclure@dcjs.ny.gov)who can give us more data if we need it. We have emailed the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to see if they can give us more insight as to why these children runaway from home. We also plan to contact David Finkelhor, Director of the Crimes against Children Research Center, who has written about missing children and abused children.