Victims of Abduction

INTRODUCTION

In July 1960, eight–year-old Graham Thorne, whose parents had just won the Opera House lottery, was abducted, held for ransom and then murdered by a man known as Stephen Bradley. The case attracted saturation media coverage, in part because, up until that time, cases of abduction and kidnapping were virtually unheard of in Australia. Since 1960, a number of other tragic cases of abduction have also generated widespread public interest and concern. They include the abduction and murder of Anita Cobby, Janine Balding, Samantha Knight and Ebony Simpson.

In 2005, police recorded 393 abductions in New South Wales (NSW). Taken at face value, police figures suggest that NSW has the highest recorded rate of abduction in the country (ABS 2005). Police abduction statistics and media reports of abduction, however, are in some ways quite misleading. Much of the media focus is on incidents of abduction where the victim is raped and/or murdered. Abduction, however, is not always committed for reasons of sexual gratification or to obtain a ransom. Some abductions are committed as part of a robbery, others occur in the context of domestic violence.