Last night, being a creature of habit, I plopped down on the sofa and
grabbed the universal remote control (a true modern marvel)  and
snatched Fox News down from the trusty 'ol satellite.

As expected, the story of Samantha Runnion's kidnapping/murder
began to unfold, revealing the details of the horrible nature in which
she had suffered and ultimately died.  I was overwhelmed with disgust,
concern, sadness and most of all, fury.

As I was watching, I became unaware of my immediate surroundings,
including the fact that my 5  year old daughter  had walked into the
room dressed in her favorite Princess Barbie ball gown costume, complete
with clear plastic slippers garnished in a rainbow of gaudy rhinestones.
She stood in silence, and watched the segment in it's entirety (my bad).

At the commercial break, I heard my daughter say from behind, "daddy,
is the kidnapper going to get me too?" I felt sick as I sank to one of the lowest
points in my life. My little angel, who is typically consumed with issues such
as which stuffed animal she should sleep with or which dress she should wear
on any given day, was now aware, although without understanding, that true
evil exists and children are most vulnerable.

I'd did my level best to explain what happened to Samantha in terms that
my daughter could understand, leaving out the graphic details of the sexual
assault and the manner in which she was killed. "Why did someone want to
choke that little girl", she asked while holding both of her tiny hands around
her dainty neck.  I almost broke down. Feeling put on the spot, all I could say
was that it was a very confused person who liked being mean; at the same time
thinking that I'd like to get my hands around the throat of the scumbag piece
of shit that did this and put him in the grave myself.

My explanation of this "incident" and lecture on strangers seemed to pacify her
curiosity and calm her fears, or so I thought. My daughter climbed in bed with
this morning, and instead of her usual "good morning, I love you daddy", she
woke me and asked "can the kidnapper get into our house or come to our
neighborhood". Once again, I assured her of her safety, tucked her in and kissed
her on the forehead. I climbed out of bed, went into my den and cried like a baby
(don't tell anybody). The awareness of "evil" had found it's way into my
daughter's life, years before I would have ever expected it.

I started shooting at the ripe old age of 7 (I'll be 40 next month) and have been in
love with firearms ever since. I did four years in the US Navy as a Gunners Mate
specializing in small arms training. Like many of you, I've spend a small
fortune on formal firearms training (3 classes per year average) at various facilities
and only God knows how much on firearms, the never ending supply of ammo
and those gotta have accessories, but nothing could possibly prepare me mentally
or physically for the experience of having one of my children sexually assaulted
and /or murdered.

Of all of the SHTF scenarios that I read about on the various threads, as a parent,
I can't image any situation worst than loosing a child.

"Daddy, will the kidnapper get me too? "
Not if you sleep with my trusty .45 under your pillow!

My 7 yr old daughter got an addendum to the normal response to a stranger...if someone drives up and ask [b]ANY[/b] question or tries to make conversation, from now on, she says "I don't know but, my daddy has gun...[b]DADDY!![/b]"and runs like hell to the house.

We've even tested her on it. She was very attentive to the unfolding little girl murdered story...lots of questions."Why would someone do this Daddy?" To be honest...I have an answer but, to a 7 yr old girl...it must not compute in their fragile,pure thought process.

And of course in my neighborhood, we have a pretty secure street.[:D] Woe to the pos...woe to him.

Hell's comin', and I'm comin' with it,
[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

Gunner1X,

I'm not a parent (too young still) but man did that story do a number on me.  Sucks that it happened, but you took care of it the right way.

Wow, I'm also not ready in my life for a kid, but it still hit me pretty hard.  I think it is good that your daughter saw the segment though.  Its a real thing, its tangible and not some fable told by parents to scare the kids.  She saw it and is rightfully frightened, that's good!  

I know it made you feel bad to THINK about this happening to you and your family, but now she won't make the mistake that the other little girl did.  They say that ignorance is bliss, but its more deadly now than ever.  

Just let her know that you'll protect her and that shes safe!

... Not if any of us here have the chance to get at him first!

.. I'd gladly create a new asshole right between the eyes of the perp with a .45 diameter hole axpanding to about six inches out the back of his head.

Yes, a sad state of affairs.

I'll include a link to what I consider to be among the best of "The Onion" because of the loose connection with your daughter's concern.

If you're familiar with the paper, then you'll have an appreciation for just how profound this is:

[url=www.theonion.com/onion3734/talking_to_your_child_tips.html] Talking To Your Child About The WTC Attack.[/url]

I passed by this thread for about 2 hours, 'cause I kinda figured I knew what it was about,(I was right). I'm sittin here (54 y/o 'Nam vet), with tears streaming down my cheeks....guess that says it all, I'm so angry..

Sure liberty.....go ahead...put me over the edge...

Damn I hope they get this freak!

If I were certain that it would cost me my everlasting salvation, I would still hunt that POS down like a rabid dog and dispatch him in a manner that only a seasoned coroner could stomach.

And then carry his carcass into Hell with me.

Eric The(NastyBastage)Hun[>]:)]

Liberty76, I passed by this thread too, for the same reasons.

My 13 y.o. daughter is sitting on the couch a few feet away but she hasn't commented on these kidnappings. I think she knows she's pretty damn safe around her dada. And by now she has had the routine drilled into her for several years now.

But your story Gunner really pulls the heart strings. Your little girl is too little to worry about such things.

I couldn't express my thoughts on it any better, Thanks....

It's a sad day indeed when a child learns that the world isn't always a nice place, and some people are just plain evil. Pitty the poor fool who comes for my daughters.[:K][sniper]

I can assure you that the Almighty would thank you for taking out the trash and let you in to His house....

Although he might send you to Purgatory for a bath, first!

If I were certain that it would cost me my everlasting salvation, I would still hunt that POS down like a rabid dog and dispatch him in a manner that only a seasoned coroner could stomach.

And then carry his carcass into Hell with me.

Eric I agree with you.  I have cried, and I have prayed the the hand of God would strike this evil doer down (and I would love to be the instrument... nothing a blowtorch, a pair of channel locks, a hammer and two nails couldn't fix)  I have held my soon to be two year old son and 4 week old daughter and just cried like a baby.  Somebody needs to take that bastard out!

MY 5 year old told me about the girl that was grabbed out of her garage and thrown in a car.  Then my 6 year old tells me that someone cut off her head (I think she had it confused with choking).

Prescription for the guy that did it:

5 Flares stacked PR ignite and wait until the chain finishes.

Roger that!

Having had several girlfriends in my life, the idea of having a daughter scares the hell out of me.  I mean, I'm a nice guy, I'm never aggressive in a relationship.  But guys & girls will do what they have been doing for millenia.  I'm going to have a hard enough time dealing with the fact that some unworthy zit-faced little punk is going to want to kiss my (hypothetical) little girl.  But he's (probably) one of the normal ones!  The idea of sickos like this just twists my guts in knots.

If I have a daughter, I can just picture the first day of kindergarden:

Ok, Susie, did you bring your crayons?

"yes, daddy"

What did daddy tell you about strangers?

"two in the chest and one in the head, daddy"

Very good!  And don't worry if you have to put one in his "lap" to get him to bend over so you can reach his head...

I don't have kids, but you will have to explain it some time or another. Better now than later. Teach her well while she is young, not as many worries later.

Don;t worry, Daddy,
[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20020716/i/1026830972.3154296912.jpg"[/img]

This nasty kidnapper guy ain't gettin near me!

Gunner1X:

It's good that you were there when she saw it.
Tough seeing the Little Princesses get broken in on the evil of the world, isn't it?
I know.

I keep telling mine I don't want to find their picture on a milk carton.  RUN.  FIGHT.  GET AWAY.  
As they get older, we'll work on the ID of the car and driver or stranger.  I just want them to know what to do.

You've done well talking to her about it.
Good job, Dad.

This shit bothers me worse than any thing else I have ever seen (And I have seen some pretty bad shit).I thought after 20 or 30 years the urge to do it right would finally go away.I have a 8 year old son ,If any body ever put a hand on him I would do it right....AGAIN. It wouldn't have to be my son .Any POS that would harm a child would rather face the good lord himself or the devil 'cause they would give the SOB a much better break than I ever would.It pisses me of so bad just thinking about it ,I am crying while looking at my son sleeping knowing how innocent they really are .I'M NOT, TRY ME BASTARD.If I did any wrong in this post just edit or delete.If not send it to all of the baby raping POS'S in the pen. and let them know what to expect when they get out!!!!!!!(sorry to get out of hand but this is on the top of my list of "WILL DIE FOR")

Post from fizassist -

LOL, that's sounds like something I used to recite to my daughter when she was a young'un:

[b]Two to the chest and one to the head,
Turn out his lights, and go to bed![/b]

She used to get such a kick outta that, but we had to make certain that her mother wasn't listening.

It 'took' though, cause she and her husband are both Life members of the NRA, and she's probably more conservative than I am!

Eric The(ProudAsAPeacock)Hun[>]:)]

Public hanging!

Our kids will never ask us if that dead guy at the end of a rope will get them.

Damn Gunner...I don't have kids either but damn that hurts me to hear about. Fuckin A.

Here's my story from the other side of the coin, it might make you feel better.

In the early 70's I was about 5 or 6 years old and was in kindergarten. There had been a serial rapist in the general area (he wasn't attacking kids, but there was still a lot fear and apprehension about when he would strike next).
The town was a decent size and the story was all over the papers and TV so everyone had at least heard about it, even kids like me.

My dad was a cop and was working night shifts after coming back from Vietnam so he had been at some of the crime scenes, etc. (I realized this in retrospect, it's not like he was telling me details about it or anything).

Anyway, he had came to pick me up from school one afternoon and I asked some innocuous question about the story that I had heard on the radio. I don't remember what it was, but I wasn't worried that I was going to be attacked.

The only thing I can figure is that I guess my dad thought I might be scared by all the news stories, because he looked over at me as he was driving and said in a calm voice 'you don't have to worry. If anyone ever tries to hurt you, I'll cut their damned head off in the middle of the street.'

Then he turned back to driving us home.

Now, please understand I'm not suggesting this as a recommended course of action in dealing with childhood fears. (Particularly for a little girl)

While I still recall having the briefest mental flash of trying to imagine exactly what that might look like, I knew he was dead serious and that he loved me and would do everything possible to protect me.
(It was a pretty heavy moment for a 6 year old.)

I think the main thing is having your daughter know that you love her and will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. She probably just needs the reassurance.

I really feel for you G.

Great story...thanks!