Serious Stuff

Had the good fortune to spend some time with Kelsey Smith's parents tonight. If you don't know about Kelsey Smith, she was abducted outside of a Target store in Overland Park, Kansas and murdered in the summer of 2007. It took 16 seconds from the time of approach to the time of abduction and get-away.

Her family created the Kelsey Smith Foundation (made up at first of "Kelsey's Army" who searched non-stop for the four days she went missing. 16 seconds people!

Here are some simple and basic tips that everyone should think about:

Kelsey's Army Tips

I plan to write more on this over the next few days but here is as good of a place to start as any.

Before you think this is stuff that "never happens in my neighborhood/to people like me", consider that Overland Park, Kansas is an above average income area with parts that are of significant affluence. Kelsey's dad is ex-military and police. In other words, she was TRAINED and in a solid socio-economic area and it still happened.

According to police officers and combat-trained professionals, NEVER, EVER allow yourself to be taken from the point of the attack. Period! "If you leave crime scene #1, you won't leave crime scene #2".

I've trained with guys and gals that train street fighters, police officers and body guards. Their advice is consistent. !) Make noise. 2) Fight back if it's physical (give it away if it's property and 3) BE AGGRESSIVE. The altercation may go bad, but an abduction almost always will. If you get a funny feeling that something "just isn't right", it probably isn't. Call the police - DONT wait. Better to be embarrassed than embraced in eulogy.

More on this later. Kelsey's Army is an incredible organization that reminds us that 4000 people age 17-24 are murdered every year. That means that in the same time it has taken us to lose 5000 soldiers in Iraq, we have lost over 20,000 of our young people. A very sobering (AND FOR SOME ABSOLUTELY AWFUL/WRONG REASON), a very un-reported statistic.