I had a part time job flipping burgers after school. We didn't have a car - so I took the bus. Is this so out of your realm of understanding? There are actually people (some of the schoolkids) who can navigate around without a gps system.
This was 1968 - 1972.
Thank God you weren't kidnapped by hippies.
Our perception of daily risks was much lower in that timeframe.
Occasionally a kid would go missing and parents did worry about them having been in a car crash.
But they never thought to worry that they'd been eaten by a neighbor.