You're Not Alone: The Journey from Abduction to Empowerment

“I only go on media if I believe there’s a good purpose for it.I didn’t go on any media when I first came home, and when Ifinally decided to, I didn’t go on alone. If you don’t feel likeyou’re ready for it, you don’t have to. You can just say no. It’s notlike it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The media will still bethere if you decide later you want to talk about your abduction.If you do decide to talk, let the media know where you stand,and don’t let them walk all over you. You still have rights as ahuman being. You have the right to tell them what you are orare not willing to talk about. ” — ElizabethDEALING WITH THE MEDIAIn many instances the media play a big role in bringing children home. They can get the wordout about an abduction, who might be responsible, what kind of car was used, and where theabductor may be heading. They can help the police notify the public about your abduction andcan help issue an AMBER Alert. The problem is that sometimes the media attention does notgo away once you are recovered. The media will want people to see that you are okay, and tofind out exactly what happened to you while you were gone. People may feel like they haveinvested something personally in your life. And they may have—they probably thought aboutyou, worried about you, prayed for you, ormaybe even joined the search for you.As true as that might be, you do not have aresponsibility to them. Your responsibilityis to help yourself heal and to do what isbest for you.“I started writing down answersto questions after talking withmy dad. I wrote down thingsI should say if I didn’t quiteknow what I was feeling. Ididn’t want to hurt people’sfeelings, but felt that I did inthe process. This helped medeal with their questions andfeel better about me as well. ”— Lindsey34