"I don't want to scare you but I have something to tell you."

Those are words my mother said as I walked into the kitchen to help with dinner. A million thoughts raced through my mind. Had something happened to our family? The story my mom told was one I did not expect. A woman had stopped at a stop sign, a man had come up to ask her directions and beat her. I was horrified to hear that this had happened, let alone it happened so close to home.

Whenever you hear terrible news of a child missing or something terrible happening, it's hard to hear but you can always distance yourself with the thought "That's over there, that can't happen here." I thought the same. I thought in Ohio with so many small towns and friendly neighbors there is no way tragedies like that could happen here, not in my town.

But it did.

When I first heard about Sierah Joughin going missing, I felt terrible about it happening and I hoped she would be found and safe and sound. That her disappearance was a misunderstanding, but as the days went by, it was harder to think that. When the truth came out, I could hardly fathom it. Here was this bright and young college student taken too soon from this Earth from a place just like my small town. She had gone a bike ride and never returned.

Then I started seeing posts on Facebook about a man coming up to women in Lima asking them if they were a "nice lady" and asking for directions. He was apparently a human trafficker. Then I heard he was in Bluffton in a McDonald's parking lot, asking people for help because his daughter was "choking".

It's absolutely terrifying living in a world where your kindness can get you killed.

The woman who thought she was giving directions to a stranger will probably never roll down her window for anyone again. All the people who have heard their story will speed past people in need because they do not want to risk losing their life. I don't take walks out in the country anymore. I always tell my mom where I'm going and when I should be back. I check to make sure the doors to the house are locked about three times. I do this so I'm not the next warning sign.

The stories of countless women being captured and killed, unsuspecting kind people being beaten are warning signs. The warning of not going out in the country by yourself, not helping strangers on the side of the road or helping someone in a parking lot.

I do not want to think of raising children in this world where you can't even help someone with directions without almost losing your life. I always used to pride myself on the fact that my small town was so friendly but recently I don't want to. We can't afford to be friendly when it might be the last thing we do.

I want us to do something. I want us to start watching out for each other. When you see something suspicious, report it to the police and share the knowledge with everyone you know. I hope that someday that girls can go for a bike ride without fearing for their lives or help strangers.