So horrible. This guys is proof that violent perps should not ever be released and derserve life sentences. It's just too risky. This poor woman. I need to ask, though...how does one get kidnapped while running. I'm struggling to understand how a runner can get physically taken into a vehicle. If you see a person clearly and aggressively running towards you how do you not turn and out run them? I'm 46 (male) and just recently ran a 16 miler with three friends who are women and range in age from 32-41. We ran 7:40 pace. A "relative" easy pace for us. I can't see a crazy person (in this case a black male) run towards us and even come close to kidnapping any of us. I don't understand. It happens, though. In this case at least. Sad and scary.
My post got a lot of down arrows because many do not like the truth I stated. Your second sentence is off topic and is pandering. U.S. criminal justice system functions with expectation well over 90% arrested will plead guilty. If prosecutor over twenty-years ago attempted to charge him with a crime which would have resulted in life, would the accused have accepted that? Most on this site including Rojo with his posts on the subject are emotional, not rational. Anyway, abducted and get in a vehicle, 99.99% likely to end up dead. Learn to fight.
You say that 99.99% end up dead, but fortunately only about 20% of kidnapping victims that are not kidnapped by family (which are most of the cases--meaning children taken by a parent in a custody dispute very often) are found alive and 9,999 out of 10,000 missing kids are found alive now (there's your 99.99%).
"Still, nearly 20% of non-family kidnapping victims reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are found dead. But as law enforcement agencies are advancing in locating abduction victims, only 1 out of 10,000 missing kids isn't found alive.Jan 10, 2022 40+ Horrific & Chilling Kidnapping Statistics [2022] - Safe at Last"
After the SCOTUS struck NY’s gun law (several months ago) that essentially prevented most anti-gun states from carrying a concealed handgun, someone started a thread that encouraged runners to carry a concealed gun for protection while running. Worse still, by mostly women. I don’t understand why people (male or female) would not want to protect themselves.
Because decades of research show that having a gun in your household makes you and your family MORE likely to die, not less.
Use of a firearm in self-defense that prevents harm is vanishingly rare (while running, or anytime). Guns in the home killing people through accidents and/or domestic violence is very common.
Never had to deploy the taser on a run, but the dog has probably discouraged one or two encounters over the years. I did have to fend off a couple of kids from my daughters when a gang fight broke out next to us at some carnival rides one year, but I did that with basic self defense.
So none of you have ever actually used the tazer, and once a fight broke out near you at an amusement park (and it doesn't sound this instance, a "gang fight" was targeting you at all).
It sounds as if objectively none of your family has ever "needed" a weapon, not even once. Before you get someone killed (most likely yourself), stop carrying weapons like tazers and guns. Start preventing or better managing the encounters that you are so terrified of.
Never had to deploy the taser on a run, but the dog has probably discouraged one or two encounters over the years. I did have to fend off a couple of kids from my daughters when a gang fight broke out next to us at some carnival rides one year, but I did that with basic self defense.
So none of you have ever actually used the tazer, and once a fight broke out near you at an amusement park (and it doesn't sound this instance, a "gang fight" was targeting you at all).
It sounds as if objectively none of your family has ever "needed" a weapon, not even once. Before you get someone killed (most likely yourself), stop carrying weapons like tazers and guns. Start preventing or better managing the encounters that you are so terrified of.
Who said anything about a gun? My wife has a knuckle tazer with a personal siren. Not exactly deadly. Considering 43% of women runners report being harassed on runs, it is not an unnecessary precaution that you are so keen to dismiss.
An ex-girlfriend of mine was beaten into a hospital bed on her walk from work one day by some gang members as part of an initiation. These are not unfounded fears.
Because decades of research show that having a gun in your household makes you and your family MORE likely to die, not less.
Anti-gun activists crack me up. If it weren’t for your gun-toting ancestors, they wouldn’t have survived long enough to reproduce so that you could sit at your keyboard today and spew nonsensical claims about how safe the world would be without guns. You drink your lattes and debate amongst yourselves about everything that people should not do to protect themselves. You’re all full-fledged members of the cowardly bystander club that record videos of assaults (or worse) and then post them online for kicks. But you’d never lift a finger to help a fellow human being in distress. To criminals, anti-gun activists are the gift that won’t stop giving.
. I'm struggling to understand how a runner can get physically taken into a vehicle. If you see a person clearly and aggressively running towards you how do you not turn and out run them?
That's because the bad guy isn't going to run towards you or give you any time to react. You have to "Think like a criminal" and view the attack from the criminal's perspective. A criminal isn't going to run more than a few feet and he's going to do that from the side and from so close that you have almost no time to react.
A criminal is going to be hiding by the side of the road, standing on the side of the road or casually walking towards you. Then, he grabs you as you go by.
I haven't seen the street view of the exact location, but I'd bet the perp was standing still in the shadows and couldn't be seen until he made his move.
Run too close to a parked vehicle (like most sidewalks) and someone jumps out the door at the right moment. They aren’t going to give you a chance to react.
The two most important factors are 1) the number of other people around, and 2) the amount of light. Running at 7:30 am in the main areas of Central Park in NYC is very safe. Running in some off area of Central Park at 3:30 am is not. Run in well lit, populated areas and you should be fine. If you can’t do that, then the reality is that you are taking a risk.
I don't think posters who are suggesting handgun carry have actually carried while running. Here's my take on handgun carry while running as a lifetime HCP holder and owner of handguns.
I've done it. It's just not practical. Handguns are heavy. And they bounce. And they are easily damaged by sweat. And they are very uncomfortable to carry while running.
And to be practical for all situations, a handgun needs to be accessed with only one hand, drawn, and fired in 2-3 seconds.
Most running holsters are belly bands, but I find belly bands to be very uncomfortable, plus the gun gets soaked with sweat and has to be cleaned after the run.
A waist pack would be better than nothing, but bouncing is still a problem and it's harder to access quickly with one hand.
If I really needed to carry, I'd wear a running vest with a large enough front pocket to hold a .380 upright in a quickly accessable position, probably in a sticky holster or some other holster that would always "present" the grip in a quick draw position.
In winter, it would still be a hassle, but it's doable in winter.
I carry my Glock and another backup pistol when I run now. I once had to use it on a coyote (or another aggressive small-ish wolf-like animal), and I also had to empty my clip into a feral hog to stay safe.
Carries not one but two guns while running.^ No wonder the US is so rife with avoidable shooting deaths.
Lol. Not only that illegally killing coyotes on his run. John Rambo in the house.
Don't run alone unless you have someone to run with you. Or run when other joggers are out there as well. But most importantly don't run alone. This is especially for the female jogger. My heart is broken that a mother of two lost her life, but the killer was tracking her movements. Don't be the next victim.
For lady joggers, don't ever run alone. That is the first and most important lesson. Once the suspect sees that you don't run alone, that would give him pause.
So horrible. This guys is proof that violent perps should not ever be released and derserve life sentences. It's just too risky. This poor woman. I need to ask, though...how does one get kidnapped while running. I'm struggling to understand how a runner can get physically taken into a vehicle. If you see a person clearly and aggressively running towards you how do you not turn and out run them? I'm 46 (male) and just recently ran a 16 miler with three friends who are women and range in age from 32-41. We ran 7:40 pace. A "relative" easy pace for us. I can't see a crazy person (in this case a black male) run towards us and even come close to kidnapping any of us. I don't understand. It happens, though. In this case at least. Sad and scary.
1. Some people run way slower than that. There are people who jog at 10-11 pace and have no desire to go any faster, so don't.
2. The perpetrator in this case was in or nearby a car.
The recent news of Eliza missing and presumably found dead is unthinkable. I am heartbroken for her family. I am praying for them.
I am a female and often run alone at 5 am. To be honest, I don’t really take any extra safety precautions besides bringing my phone with me. This has really shaken me, and I am wondering what others do to feel safe when running alone?
My wife says absolutely never run with headphones in.
she also has an Apple Watch that has its own SIM card that can be used as a phone, has a panic button on it too.
This is good advice for men as well as women. If you aren't on a treadmill, being able to hear is vital for your safety. Less important on trails than roads, but still important. Homeless people live along the trails you think are so safe you could run with headphones. And some of them are out of their minds nuts.
I wish it’d be easy to run with an AR15, but it’s too big to run with. There’s nothing with more stopping power for a human though - empty 5, maybe 10 rounds into center of mass and even they’re on PCP they’ll go down.
Can’t beat running with a nuclear warhead. Bet On Running’s Swiss engineering has figured out how to fit one in their Nuclear apparel line.
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