GlossaryCrime classifications
Kidnapping
Kidnapping is unlawful seizure, transportation, or detention of a person against their will.
Kidnapping is unlawful seizure, transportation, or detention of a person against their will. In the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the category also covers specified abductions of minors without a custodial parent's or legal guardian's consent. The statistical meaning is broader than the familiar image of a stranger taking someone away.
Reading the category
The FBI's 2025.0 NIBRS manual names category 100 “Kidnapping/Abduction.” Its coverage includes hostage situations, parental abduction, and detention associated with domestic violence. Movement over a long distance is not required by that statistical definition.
A short public entry may not identify which situation was reported. It is therefore inappropriate to infer the relationship between the people involved, a ransom demand, or travel across a border from the category alone.
Example
Hypothetical example: A report alleges that an adult locked a housemate in a storage room and prevented them from leaving. The agency records a kidnapping/abduction offense even though the person was not transported elsewhere.
The relevant feature in this example is alleged unlawful detention. The entry does not support describing an abduction by a stranger, a missing child, or an interstate event. Those would add facts absent from the record.
Common confusion
A missing-person report records concern about a person's whereabouts; it does not establish kidnapping. Human trafficking concerns exploitation and has its own requirements. Either can be connected with kidnapping, but the categories answer different questions.
NIBRS also has specific instructions about detention associated with robbery or rape. Readers should not create an extra kidnapping count merely because another offense restricted someone's freedom.
Source and jurisdiction
This page uses the FBI manual dated June 23, 2025. The law of the relevant jurisdiction separately controls a criminal charge and any relationship-based exceptions or elements. For a public dataset, check its codebook and source manual before applying the statistical definition to a legal case.