Scary, Scary, and Sad

I read in the newspaper that a young woman, responding to a Craigslist ad for a babysitter, was killed, likely by a man who had been posing as a young couple looking for a sitter. There are a lot of details not known at this point, but someone has already been arrested. How horrible.

Of course, this has gotten me to thinking about the various purchases and sales I've made through Craigslist, the times I've gone alone or with Anna all over town for a deal. I have met people in public, I do keep items near the front door, but I can certainly think of times which I probably should have been more careful as well.

Women generally know how this goes ... tell someone else where you're going, don't walk alone at night, have your keys out and ready as you approach your car so you don't have to dig in your purse, don't talk on a cell phone while walking alone (distraction), and many more I can't think of at the moment. But even then, there is only so much you can do, or it may only take one time to have blown off the risk to get hurt.

Regardless, I'm sad for what happened to this young woman. I've read about prostitution and gambling rings operating via Craigslist, and of course there are scams of various sorts but nothing as violent or as horrible as this.