Teens urged to avoid traveling sales crews

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The National Consumers League said the recent news of an 18-year-old's death while working in a traveling sales crew should serve as a warning to U.S. teens.

NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg said in a NCL release Monday the discovery of the remains of Jennifer M. Hammond, who disappeared in August 2003 in Milton, N.Y., shows how potentially dangerous the traveling crews can be for teen workers.

"Jennifer Hammond's death should serve as a tragic warning. We urge parents not to allow their children to join traveling sales crews," Greenberg said.

Hammond's body was found last week in a forest in Saratoga County, N.Y., mere miles from where another young woman's body was found in 2005. The second woman, whose identity was not reported, also went missing from Milton, N.Y.

Greenberg said Hammond's case, which is being treated as a homicide, highlights why traveling sales positions routinely make the league's list of the "Five Worst Jobs for Teens."

"Frequent crime reports involving traveling sales crews suggests that the environment they present is not a safe one for teen workers," she said. "Working in unknown neighborhoods poses risks, especially if you are carrying money from sales or goods to sell."