America's Lost Child

The Abduction of Polly Klaas

De: Mark Stokes

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

On a quiet October night in 1993, 12‑year‑old Polly Klaas was snatched from her bedroom in Petaluma, California while attending a sleepover and mere steps from her sleeping mother. What began as a seemingly ordinary evening turned into one of the most chilling stranger abductions in U.S. history. Suddenly, the nation was gripped by tragedy and terror as authorities launched one of the largest man‑hunts ever seen, scouring every inch of Northern California and piecing together a complex trail of evidence.
America’s Lost Child delves deep beyond headlines and speculation. Through painstaking research, the narrative brings to life the investigators’ grueling effort and the emotional toll endured by the Klaas family, the law enforcement community, and the public. With a powerful combination of empathy, forensic detail, and procedural clarity, this book uncovers both the fateful night and the untold aftermath.
More than a true‑crime chronicle, this is a story of change and consequence. Polly’s abduction sparked sweeping shifts in child‑safety protocols and law enforcement practices, from the way missing‑child alerts are broadcast to the legal frameworks governing abduction cases. With cultural resonance that lives on decades later, America’s Lost Child doesn’t just memorialize Polly, it contextualizes how one family’s heartbreak reshaped a nation’s approach to protecting its most vulnerable.