Over 200,000 children in the US alone are abducted by a parent or other relative every year, according to Melissa Hart, herself a former child kidnapping victim.

Thirty years after the fact, she still struggles with self-identity issues as a result of being compelled to assume various personas – after discarding her true identity. Because, in Ms. Hart’s opinion, her mother couldn’t come up with a better solution to the situation with her difficult father.

Once grown, Ms. Hart could find no assistance to help her deal with the aftermath of her ordeal. Ironically, all the assistance available was directed to the parents who had created the situation – not the kids twisted in the middle.

That’s why she and others who were abducted as children banded together and founded, Take Root, a non-profit association that helps abducted children heal.

Read more of Ms. Hart’s affecting story in the Oregonian’s article: Abducted by parents, children become the forgotten victims .