"We're looking for a man between the ages of 45 and 60 years of age, he is highly intelligent and has what he considers a deep sense of responsibility and a desire to save children he feels are mistreated or are labeled as outcasts by society. He's old enough that the children respect him as an authority figure, but he is young enough to still be a friend to them and someone they can relate to as either a father figure or even a grandfather figure..." Hotch started.
Norster was packed with officers, space was extremely limited but the small area in front of the boards was reserved for the BAU. Williamson stood off to the side near his office, he had the door shut, to keep Paris from hearing.
"He knows these kids, and they know him. They feel safe with him and have no problem whatsoever with doing what he says, because they believe he would never hurt them. He is someone who protects these kids in situations they might not be able to defend themselves in," Morgan added "so that trust is extremely strong. It is tough to think about, but he most likely works in or around the school systems, or in other strictly kid oriented areas; after school clubs, sports, excreta. This allows him to get to know each kid on a personal level, learn details about them and their lives and gain that trust. He knows specific details about the kids; likes, dislikes, favorite food, now some of that can be researched, but some of the details he seems to know indicate someone extremely familiar with the kids. Teachers, guidance councilors, coaches, excreta; on top of that knowledge, each kid was found with something significant to them on top of being found in places they loved. Mike King was found with Dracula in his hand in his favorite bookstore. Josie Marshall was found in the Biotanenical gardens with crystal red rose in hand. Grant Dennerson was found in his favorite arcade, near his favorite game, in his hand a brand new PSP. Gracie Newton was found in a national forest with a pair of top of the line binoculars and she was positioned so she could easily watch the wildlife walk past her. And finally Phillip Carson, on top of being found in his favorite hiding place and wearing an Incredibles band-aid…his favorite movie, Phillip also had a die-cast model of the bat-mobile. This guy is paying close attention to detail with each kid. And he has no problem financially, the binoculars alone are running $1-2,000."
Reid stood up and cleared his throat looking around at the group of expectant officers; he glanced over at Williamson's office briefly, before turning his attention back to the group.
"Unlike the Atlanta Child Murderer in the late 70s and early 80s, our unsub sees killing as a last resort. If he could find another way to save each of these kids without killing them he would, but he feels he has no other options. Because there is no sexual component to the kidnapping and more specifically the murder itself, he truly does believe that he alone can save each of the kids and is doing so."
Gage raised his hand like he was in school, put it down, then raised it again, older officers chuckled at the rookie, but he ignored them.
"If he believes he's saving these kids why does he kill them? I mean you said it is a last resort, but really… its extreme!" he asked softly
"We agree completely," Gideon noted "but it's the WAY he kills that explains his motives." Elle folded her arms and gazed out at their audience
"Putting the kids to sleep is his way of killing them in the most painless fashion possible. Essentially he sees himself as putting them out of whatever pain he believes them to be in, as merciful as he can…each child just drifts off to sleep."
"Whatever stressor this unsub experienced happened right before the first murder. Whatever it was, it was directly related to a child, possibly an incident resulted in the death of a child or teenager he was close with or felt responsible for. This death was not expected, it was either the result of severe bullying resulting in accidental death or suicide and was a child who faced similar problems that each of the victims experienced up until their own deaths." Hotch explained "it may be a long shot, but I would recommend looking over questionable deaths involving children and teenagers five months ago and prior. Focus on suicides and the events surrounding the deaths."
"Because the age of his oldest victim is fourteen, and all of the other victims have been younger than that. It is safe to bet that the stressor was at least fifteen or sixteen, its possible but unlikely they were older than that." Elle added.
"What makes you say that?" Frances inquired, raising his pen in the air. Morgan took that question
"If he's saving these kids, he probably feels that he failed this one kid in particular. He's making up for it by "saving" kids before they can reach the point where he can no longer protect them. Since fourteen is the last year of middle school for most kids, we can be certain that high school is the point where he is unable to protect."
Gideon rubbed his hands together and took a deep breath, before facing the group, his main gaze was at Williamson, and past him towards the office where Paris was situated.
"One thing we can also be sure of, he is not done. He is not taking these kids at random. Each child that was taken has been chosen for a specific reason something that each of the children have in common and when we find out what that commonality is, we will find our unsub. Somehow he is connected to each of the kids." Gideon paused "this type of unsub is one of the most dangerous. He sees himself as an Angel of Mercy and he will let nothing stop him from completing his task. If he has a child, but is arrested, he will make sure that the mission is carried out. When he is found two key details will happen…if he does have another child…he will go quietly, he will allow himself to be arrested to turn attention to himself and prevent anything from interfering with putting the child to sleep. However on the opposite side of that if he puts up a resistance in his arrest, that means he has not had time to carry out the murder. In both cases, once we find this UnSub, the focus needs to be entirely on finding the child in question, we will have a limited amount of time to find them. He WILL be near the child, in the same location…we believe he is watching and staying close until the children are each found."