I was 4 years old. My Aunt and her friend (male) abducted me. This was in the 60’s – before anyone thought of Amber Alerts.
Apparently the kept in some form of contact with my mother during this time there is even a picture of me on the phone apparently talking to my mother while I was in their custody.
I was returned to my mother approximately 1 month later. When I was returned I was left on the door step – my Aunt rang the bell and disappeared into the dark of night. Now here’s the weird part – when I was abducted I was speaking in full sentences – normal 4 year old. When I was returned I didn’t speak a word – I eventually regained my speaking ability.
Questions I ask myself more often than I should:
1) What happened when I was away?
2) Why did I stop talking – if I was just mad at my mother for letting me go for so long you think I would have started speaking again.
— Survivor, age 54
Dear Survivor – I can’t imagine the strength it took to write this post. Please try not to be so hard on yourself for asking those questions. To me it seems perfectly normal to have those questions. Not talking can certainly be a symptom of PTSD and trauma. But I’m certainly not an expert. I would encourage you to talk to a counselor or a therapist. They can help you work through those questions; maybe not answer them, but help you address the feelings around them and around what happened. Thank you so much for posting here. Wishing you all the best. Love, Alexis