No immunity

In Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, we think we're almost immune from the kind of seemingly random crimes that plague big cities. St. Louis is celebrating because the number of homicides dipped to 69 last year, the lowest total since 1962. Cape Girardeau had one killing in 2003, Jackson and Scott City none.

But we are not immune from being touched by these crimes. After Rebecca Hargon, her husband, Michael, and their 4-year-old son Patrick disappeared from their rural Mississippi home Feb. 14, we learned that Rebecca was born in Cape Girardeau. Her uncle, David Fuemmeler, is the superintendent of Cape Girardeau County's Nell Holcomb School. Her parents, Bill and Linda Hirtz, live in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Blood, bullet holes and shell casings were found in the Hargon home. It's difficult to imagine foul play was not involved.

The Hargon family is still missing, and their family is still praying for them.

A heinous crime hit close again this week. Monday, police arrested a 34-year-old Florida man on charges he lured a 13-year-old Cape Girardeau boy to Kansas City for sex. They became acquainted in an online chat room on Jan. 10. The following day, the boy's mother reported he had run away.

Police say the boy stole a van and drove to the St. Louis airport where a plane ticket purchased by the suspect, Archillis Boglosa, was waiting. Police say the two had sex at Boglosa's sister' home in Gardner, Kan., before the boy was given a bus ticket home.

He is lodged at the Juvenile Detention Center in Cape Girardeau because of the alleged theft and behavior problems. The van is the fourth car the boy has stolen, police say.

Boglosa is awaiting extradition to Cape Girardeau on a felony warrant for enticement of a child. Police want to look in his computer for the names of other possible victims.

The circumstances that led to the disappearance of the Hargon family are still unknown. There was no sign of forced entry.

We do know the dangers of teenagers roaming around in chat rooms, natural hunting grounds for sexual predators. The contact between the boy and Boglosa was made through instant messaging. One simple thing parents can do to help safeguard their children is to restrict their receipt of instant messages to people on a prescribed list. Of course, it hasn't been made public whether the boy or Boglosa made the first contact.

The old sarge in the TV series "Hill Street Blues" used to say, "Be careful out there. " These days it's smart to be extra careful out there.