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FM: So apart from the negative press, were you happy with the response to the press conference? Did
any good come of it?
JC: We did get some positive response. Like I said we had a lot to manage but once we’d weeded out
the nutters, we were hoping something would come of it, maybe a sighting, maybe people to add to the
list we had to interview.
He’s got me interested. If truth be told, this case fascinated me at the time, as it did many people. I
must have let this show, the fact that I’m finding what he’s telling me compelling, because he leans
forward, asks me the question that’s really on his mind.
JC: How many sessions do you think it will take until you can sign me off?
I have to put my professional face firmly back in place.
FM: That’s impossible for me to say. All I can say is that you’re making good progress so far.
He sits back again, but he’s agitated. His right knee jiggles up and down.
FM: I’m interested in the work that the forensic psychologist was doing. Can you tell me more about
that?
JC: He’d not submitted anything in writing at this point, but Fraser and I had both talked to him.
FM: And what were his thoughts?
JC: They were a mixed bag.
FM: Can you describe them to me?
JC: It’s not nice stuff.
FM: I’m interested. It’s not a million miles away from what I do.
JC: The main distinction that profilers make in child abduction cases is between family and nonfamily
abduction.
FM: Is either one more likely?
JC: Statistically, a family abduction, because they’re usually the result of divorces or custody
arrangements that have gone bad. You often read about kids who are kidnapped and taken abroad by a
parent. Rarely, a family abduction involves a member of close family: an uncle, or a stepfather
maybe, who harbours an unhealthy sexual interest in a child, but in those cases the victim is usually a
girl.
FM: Presumably those cases are easier to solve.
JC: Absolutely. The non-family perpetrator is much more challenging for us. If a child is snatched
right out of their lives, without trace, the pool of potential suspects can become vast. Obviously we
look at everyone they know, but once you’ve ruled them out, it could be anyone. And time is always
against you.
FM: It must leave the parents in a living hell.