SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — As the search for a missing University of Iowa student continues, much has been made of a startling statistic on missing persons in that state. Forty-eight Iowa juveniles have gone missing so far in July, a development that has sparked a flood of social media warnings and theories. However, that number becomes less shocking in a review of missing persons statistics. Heavy regional news coverage of the disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts, 20, of Brooklyn, Iowa, about 60 miles east of Des Moines, has led to more focus on missing children. While a missing child is certainly cause for worry, concern has morphed into rumors that make it appear as though every child who goes missing is the victim of abduction or sex trafficking. ► July 28:University of Iowa student goes missing, hasn't been seen 10 days ► April 19:Cops: Teen who helped search for missing friend was his killer ► April 12:An autistic teen is missing. Why it's a common problem for families. One Twitter user, Shannon Kelly of Chicago, posted this: "19 boys and 17 girls between the ages of 13-20 went missing within a 10-day period in Iowa. Don't think it can't happen to you. It's happening across rural and urban Iowa, especially in towns close to I-80. Be alert. Stay safe. And if you see something, say something." The post has been retweeted more than 5,000 times and received more than 5,000 likes. Interpreting this data is a bit more complicated. In 2017, 4,311 Iowa juveniles were reported missing to the national missing persons clearinghouse, said spokeswoman Medina Rahmanovic of the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The average: about 12 kids a day. The number includes people younger than 18 who are not considered lost, kidnapped or endangered in some way. The majority of missing children or teens are believed to have run away, Rahmanovic said. ► Jan. 23:Suspect agrees to plea deal in Holly Bobo murder ► Dec. 11:Dad frantically searches for missing son on Oregon streets Each entry on the Department of Public Safety's website is a separate incident, not a separate person, which makes the data more difficult to interpret. A single juvenile can be listed in several cases throughout the year, depending on how often the youth goes missing. "We have juvenile runaways who run multiple times," Rahmanovic said. "One juvenile can run three or four times, and that contributes to that big number." In South Dakota, the Attorney General's Office maintains the missing persons clearinghouse. Unlike Iowa, its website does not list specific reports but does include statistics. ► Dec. 1:Missing Florida teen found safe in New York, police say ► July 2017:Loved ones struggle to make sense of missing men's brutal deaths In 2015 in the state, 1,472 missing children reports were made. More recent data was not available. "While this number can vary every day, I would say that the number of active missing on any given day has risen from over the last few years," Attorney General spokeswoman Sara Rabern said in email. "My current estimate would be ... 40 to 65 children missing at any given time." Across the USA in 2017, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said it assisted law enforcement and families with more than 27,000 cases of missing children. That averages about 75 a day. More than 9 in 10 were runaways, and 1 in 7 of those youth were likely victims of sex trafficking, the center said. Of those, 88% were in the care of social services when they went missing. Strangers kidnap about 100 children, a fraction of 1% of missing-children cases, according to the Polly Klaas Foundation, a Petaluma, California, nonprofit dedicated to child safety and the recovery of missing children. Polly Klaas, 12, was kidnapped Oct. 1, 1993, from her Petaluma home; her body was found two months later. The FBI's National Crime Information Center missing-person numbers, which encompass all ages, back that up. About 2.5% of more than 650,000 cases opened last year involved suspected abductions, a little more than 45 a day nationwide. At the end of the year, about 88,000 of all missing-persons cases remained active, which could include cases not closed from previous years. The FBI did not state how many of those open cases were suspected kidnappings. While sex trafficking may not be the cause of every missing person case in either Iowa or South Dakota, it is a problem. The National Human Trafficking Hotline recorded 74 reports of human trafficking of all ages in Iowa in 2017 while 16 reports of human trafficking were made in South Dakota in the same year. ► July 2017:Podcast finding new clues and reviving 11-year-old abduction case ► July 2017:Grad student charged with kidnapping missing Chinese scholar Nationally, more than 8,500 cases were called into the hotline in 2017. A little more than three-quarters were sex trafficking; much of the rest was labor trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery that includes forced labor. South Dakota's annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally also has been a draw for sex traffickers looking to exploit victims. At last year's rally, nine men were arrested during a sting. Sex trafficking is a real problem that deserves serious scrutiny, but many recent posts on Twitter and Facebook can spark undue fear. ► May 2017:What Tennessee teacher accused of abducting student did on the run ► April 2017:Remains of missing Michigan teen found in grave, arrest made High-profile cases also can stir interest in missing children who are at risk. The Iowa Department of Public Safety has received many calls about missing persons statistics since Tibbetts' disappearance, Rahmanovic said. "Unfortunately, events like Mollie's have to happen to get people to start looking at missing persons," she said. Follow Katie Nelson on Twitter: @katienjourno Related ► March 2017:Arizona dad ponders son's fate in lost-at-sea mystery ► December 2016:Body found believed to be that of ex-'Bridalplasty' contestant ► November 2016:Missing son of Rep. John Conyers found alive ► September 2016:FBI renews search for California student missing 20 years ► February 2016:Lauren Spierer search warrants to remain sealed, judge says<doc-sep>The father of missing Iowa jogger Mollie Tibbetts has "reluctantly" returned to his home in California as the investigation into his daughter's mysterious disappearance continues. "Very reluctantly, I'm being told I sort of need to do this," Rob Tibbetts told ABC affiliate KCRG in Cedar Rapids. "We've called this sort of a halftime, a break." Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old rising sophomore at the University of Iowa, vanished the evening of July 18 while jogging in the rural farming town of Brooklyn, a close-knit community of about 1,500 residents. The disappearance was completely out of character for her, said Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of field operations for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations, at a news conference last week. The state agency has formed a task force with the FBI and the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office to investigate. Authorities encouraged the missing jogger's family to return to their day-to-day lives, Rob Tibbetts told KCRG, adding that he still feels confident his daughter will be found. "I still feel that way, we all feel that way, that's why it's difficult," Rob Tibbetts said. "I want to be there when she arrives." Though he returned to California this weekend, Rob Tibbetts told KCRG he'll return to Iowa as soon as there are any developments in the case. He also said he wants to spread the word about his missing daughter across the country, KCRG reported. Laura Calderwood, Mollie Tibbetts' mother, told ABC News last month there are "no words to describe how you feel when you don't know where or how your child is," calling it "excruciating." The public can submit anonymous tips on the website findingmollie.iowa.gov. "We are asking everyone to reflect back on the days prior to her disappearance in hopes of recalling details about any persons or vehicles in the area," Mortvedt told reporters last week. "Individuals who commit violent crimes often display behavior that is recognized by those with whom they live, work, attend school or are in otherwise close relationships with." Mortvedt warned that such behavior could include: Changing normal routines, changing sleep patterns, an unexplained lack of contact on July 18 or 19, unexplained injuries, getting rid of a car or unexpectedly cleaning a car. "It is often in cases like this that people may have information that they do not initially share for a number of completely understandable reasons, for example: They do not initially feel that it was important or assumed that somebody else may have already informed law enforcement," he said. "We encourage you to provide whatever information you may have."<doc-sep>
As the search for missing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts continues, much has been made of a startling statistic on missing persons in that state. Forty-eight Iowa juveniles have gone missing so far in July, a development that has sparked a flood of social media warnings and theories. That number, however, becomes less shocking when you review missing persons statistics and criteria in both Iowa and South Dakota. MORE:Missing Rapid City man located Heavy regional news coverage of Tibbetts' disappearance has led to more focus on missing children. While a missing child is certainly cause for worry, these concerns have made the rounds on social media and morphed into rumors that make it appear as though every child who goes missing is the victim of abduction or sex trafficking. One Twitter user posted: "19 boys and 17 girls between the ages of 13-20 went missing within a 10-day period in Iowa. Don't think it can't happen to you. It's happening across rural and urban Iowa, especially in towns close to I-80. Be alert. Stay safe. And if you see something, say something." The post has been retweeted more than 5,000 times and received more than 5,000 likes. The actual interpretation of this data is a bit more complicated. In 2017, 4,311 juveniles were reported missing to the national missing persons clearinghouse, Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesperson Medina Rahmanovic said. This averages out to approximately 12 kids per day. The number of juveniles who go missing includes people under age 18 who are not considered lost, kidnapped or endangered in some way – in other words, the majority of children or teens who go missing are believed to have run away, Rahmanovic said. MORE:Sioux Falls Police say missing children found safe What makes the data even more difficult to interpret is the fact that each entry on the Department of Public Safety's website is a separate incident, not a separate person. A single missing juvenile can be listed in several entries throughout the year, depending on how often they go missing. "We have juvenile runaways who run multiple times," Rahmanovic said. "One juvenile can run three or four times, and that contributes to that big number." In South Dakota, the Attorney General's office maintains the missing persons clearinghouse. Unlike Iowa, its website does not list specific reports, but does include statistics. In 2015, 1,472 missing children reports were made. More recent data was not available. "While this number can vary every day, I would say that the number of active missing on any given day has risen from over the last few years," Attorney General spokesperson Sara Rabern said in an email. "My current estimate would be ... 40 to 65 children missing at any given time." More:Update: Missing Lincoln County woman has been found and is safe While sex trafficking may not be the cause of every missing person case in either Iowa or South Dakota, it is indeed a problem. The National Human Trafficking Hotline recorded that there were 74 reports of human trafficking in Iowa in 2017, while 16 reports of human trafficking were made in South Dakota in the same year. The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis has also been a draw for sex traffickers looking to exploit victims. At last year's rally, nine men were arrested during a sex trafficking sting. Despite the fact that sex trafficking is a very real problem that deserves serious scrutiny, many recent posts on Twitter and Facebook do not accurately reflect the truth of Iowa's missing persons list and can spark undue fear. Of course, high-profile cases can also stir interest in those children who are missing and really are at risk. The Iowa Department of Public Safety has received many calls about missing persons statistics since Tibbetts' disappearance, Rahmanovic said. "Unfortunately, events like Mollie's have to happen to get people to start looking at missing persons," she said. More:Missing teenager found Saturday night by good Samaritan, police say