Considering the slaying in Scott County of a 24-year-old woman who answered a Craigslist advertisement for a nanny, it is a good time to remind people to be careful when answering any ad, whether it is online, in the newspaper, on television or radio.

For that matter, be sure to use caution any time you encounter a stranger. Many people suggest making that first meeting in a safe, very public setting.

It is worth keeping in mind that with a classified advertisement in your local newspaper, you are more likely to have local people placing the ad &8212; and a local person working at the paper taking the ad &8212; than you would be with advertising at Craigslist. It is good to have just one more set of eyes in the process. A newspaper employee is more likely to wonder why a man is claiming to be &8220;Amy&8221; than a computer program at Craigslist is.

Craiglist, by the way, really doesn&8217;t hurt a small paper like the Tribune so much as the metro papers, but we thought we would point out the truth of the matter when it comes to classified advertising. It&8217;s good to work with real people when placing ads.

Also, people have been critical of how slow Craiglist was to inform its users of the slaying. It would have made sense to tell people online right away of such a tragedy. Newspapers, of course, told people the news of what happened.

Fortunately, police have arrested a man they say committed the crime. Michael John Anderson, 19, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder. They accuse him of luring Olson for a fake baby-sitting job, then shooting her in back and leaving her in the trunk of her car at a nearby park.

Minnesota will miss Olson. Her pastor described her as &8220;the girl who looked like sunshine.&8221; We hope justice is found.