One boy ran away from home 56 times: 2 children abducted last year, nearly 1,500 reported missing

The kidnappings of the boy Petar from Stara Pazova and little Monika marked 2019

Foto: Shutterstock
Photo: Shutterstock

Last year, two children were kidnapped in Serbia, while 1,486 of them were reported missing, State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Biljana Popovic Ivkovic stated today.

She pointed out that mostly adolescents run away from home and that the police find them very quickly.

She told Prva TV that distinction should be made between running away from home and kidnapping, and added that it is an exaggeration to say that children are disappearing, when in fact she usually run away from home.

"We have seven searches for children that we actively keep in the system, because they are actively fleeing during the day. One boy ran away 56 times, another 54 times, while a third did it 52 times," said Popovic Ivkovic.

She added that the kidnappings of Petar, a boy from Stara Pazova and Monika Karimanovic marked 2019 and noted that both searches were successfully completed, with the children returned home.

When it comes to the disappearance of another girl, Eleonora Arezina, Popovic Ivkovic said it was a difficult and complicated case.

"Any other information I might provide about that would not be good for the child," she said.

Regarding the statement of Igor Juric that there is a politician in Serbia who is a pedophile, Popovic Ivkovic said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's Office are doing their job well, but in order to initiate the procedure, they need evidence.

"Evidence is needed for any action. I call on Juric to submit evidence," she said and assessed that it was wrong to go public with such a statement without submitting evidence.

Video: What we need to know when someone goes missing

(Telegraf.rs /Tanjug)