Found: Kidnapped girl - Kidnapper's own daughter had been kidnapped
Original topic subject: Kidnapped girl - Kidnapper's own daughter had been kidnapped
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1Dauphine27
Book Details
I read this book when I was a kid in the 80s. I thought the title was “Kidnapped”, but I’ve never been able to find it. The copy I had was a paperback, and had a picture on the front of a young girl on the front running from something, but she’s looking back over her shoulder.
Plot Details
I believe the girl’s name was Kate. Kate was walking home from school one day, when a man pulls up beside her and talks to her. He’s friendly and offers her a peppermint. She discards her gum to take the peppermint and he eventually gets her to come inside the car with the promise of cake or something like that. They go to his house and he gives her cake, but then won’t let her leave. It doesn’t seem like the man actually quite meant to kidnap her, but he’s not going to let her go. He locks her in a girls bedroom that seems to be decorated for a girl several years younger than her, and she even finds this girl’s personal drawings and a picture of her first day of school. I think we find out later that this girl was the man’s daughter and that she had either died or been kidnapped.
Meanwhile Kate’s Mom and sister are going crazy because she’s missing. They go to the police who don’t immediately take it seriously because Kate has run away from home a few times before. Finally they assign a female detective to the case. It’s possible that she was retired and they had her come back to work the case. She tracked Kate’s route that she normally went home from school and found the discarded gum and peppermint wrapper. They know that it’s Kate’s because she is constantly chewing a specific flavor/brand of gum. The detective also finds some sort of hideout near where Kate normally hangs out, maybe the park or her backyard. This hideout has a good view of where Kate normally is and there are the same peppermint wrappers all over the floor.
I remember that the man went to the mall or something to buy clothes and stuff for Kate. He also bought her a treat, it might have been a small TV. At one point, she decides to behave herself and pretend that she’s happy to be there, and convinces him to go on a walk. When they get outside, she makes a dash for it, but there are enough woods around that she gets confused, and he manages to catch her again.
Spoiler
In the end, the detective figures everything out and the police surround the house. Kate’s sister runs past the police, and starts banging on the door shouting for Kate to answer. Kate runs to the door and opens it before the man can do anything. The sister demands that she be allowed to talk to her sister alone, and he lets them. They go into another room and are gone for only a few minutes and when they come back, the sister is calmer and says she doesn’t know what he’s done, but Kate likes it there and wants to stay. The man is shocked but pleased and was thinking something to the effect of “I knew Kate wouldn’t let me down”, but when he opens the door to let the sister back out, Kate runs across the room and knocks him down. The man didn’t get back up. He knew it was over, the police were already coming for him.
I read this book when I was a kid in the 80s. I thought the title was “Kidnapped”, but I’ve never been able to find it. The copy I had was a paperback, and had a picture on the front of a young girl on the front running from something, but she’s looking back over her shoulder.
Plot Details
I believe the girl’s name was Kate. Kate was walking home from school one day, when a man pulls up beside her and talks to her. He’s friendly and offers her a peppermint. She discards her gum to take the peppermint and he eventually gets her to come inside the car with the promise of cake or something like that. They go to his house and he gives her cake, but then won’t let her leave. It doesn’t seem like the man actually quite meant to kidnap her, but he’s not going to let her go. He locks her in a girls bedroom that seems to be decorated for a girl several years younger than her, and she even finds this girl’s personal drawings and a picture of her first day of school. I think we find out later that this girl was the man’s daughter and that she had either died or been kidnapped.
Meanwhile Kate’s Mom and sister are going crazy because she’s missing. They go to the police who don’t immediately take it seriously because Kate has run away from home a few times before. Finally they assign a female detective to the case. It’s possible that she was retired and they had her come back to work the case. She tracked Kate’s route that she normally went home from school and found the discarded gum and peppermint wrapper. They know that it’s Kate’s because she is constantly chewing a specific flavor/brand of gum. The detective also finds some sort of hideout near where Kate normally hangs out, maybe the park or her backyard. This hideout has a good view of where Kate normally is and there are the same peppermint wrappers all over the floor.
I remember that the man went to the mall or something to buy clothes and stuff for Kate. He also bought her a treat, it might have been a small TV. At one point, she decides to behave herself and pretend that she’s happy to be there, and convinces him to go on a walk. When they get outside, she makes a dash for it, but there are enough woods around that she gets confused, and he manages to catch her again.
Spoiler
In the end, the detective figures everything out and the police surround the house. Kate’s sister runs past the police, and starts banging on the door shouting for Kate to answer. Kate runs to the door and opens it before the man can do anything. The sister demands that she be allowed to talk to her sister alone, and he lets them. They go into another room and are gone for only a few minutes and when they come back, the sister is calmer and says she doesn’t know what he’s done, but Kate likes it there and wants to stay. The man is shocked but pleased and was thinking something to the effect of “I knew Kate wouldn’t let me down”, but when he opens the door to let the sister back out, Kate runs across the room and knocks him down. The man didn’t get back up. He knew it was over, the police were already coming for him.
2juels
Missing by James Duffy. One of the alternate covers matches your description.
3Dauphine27
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