He was sitting on a motorcycle next to her mother’s vacant parked car and he gave her the creeps. Then the “interview” began: “How old are you...what movie did you see...I have a son your age...who are you looking for?” It’s called an interview because how a potential victim answers the questions, through both words and body language, determines whether or not they’ll be the “chosen one”.

Like I said, my daughter Danielle wasn’t abducted, she failed the “interview” criminals use to choose their victims. Carly Brucia, the 11 year old in Florida who was recently abducted passed her interview, you can see it on the video tape.

Danielle knew what to do; keep at least two arms length from the stranger create a strong presence, assess the situation and surroundings, acknowledge that there could be danger, go to the safety of a crowd. More importantly, she was able to do it because she had the right training; training that combines the knowledge of what to do with ability to control her fear and apply the knowledge.

Yes, Danielle has been training in the martial arts since she was 4 years old, and the knowledge she gained through the years made her responses almost automatic. But it was a different training that helped her control the fear, or the adrenaline response, and allowed her use her skills.