TWO ATTEMPTS MADE TO SNATCH CHILDREN
Friday, February 11, 2005
By COLIN McDONALD of the Missoulian
Missoula police warned parents and teachers Thursday that two white men in a red hatchback have twice tried to pick up elementary-age children walking home from bus stops this week.
The reports - both considered attempted child abductions - came from upper Miller Creek and near the Emma Dickenson Lifelong Learning Center.
The suspects were described as white men, both between 5-foot-9 and 6 feet tall. One is slender with light brown hair, a beard and ponytail. The second was described as heavier with a "shadow" beard and lip piercing.
They were seen driving a small red hatchback, possibly an import, with a black luggage rack.
"With our dozen or so officers, there are not enough eyes to cover this valley," Lt. Gregg Willoughby said. "So if we have others, that will help out."
Willoughby said all elementary schools in the Missoula area have been notified and students at Hawthorne School were each given a letter to take home after hearing a talk from their teacher and principal.
Superintendent Jim Clark said the incidents are a reminder to parents of the importance of talking with children about how to deal with strangers. Clark said it is important for a parent to be at the bus stop to meet their children, especially young children.
The four children involved in the reports were between the ages of 7 and 10.
The first incident occurred about 3 p.m. Tuesday near Terrace Drive in upper Miller Creek, when two girls were approached by a man in a red car while walking home from their bus stop.
The man asked the girls if they wanted a ride; the girls said they did not. The man then drove to the end of the cul-de-sac, turned around and left the area.
The second incident occurred around 3 p.m. Wednesday at a bus stop in the 300 block of South Curtis Street. A 7-year-old girl was seen standing next to a red car, apparently with the driver trying to convince her to get in.
A mother then arrived at the bus stop and saw a man trying to grab her 7-year-old son and move him toward the same car.
There was no physical contact between the parent and the man, but the children were able to escape. The girl was told to run to her grandmother's house and the boy was taken home by his mother.
Two men were in the car when it sped away.
Because the initial police reports did not come in as attempted abductions, it was only after follow-up interviews Thursday that policed learned the serious nature of the incidents, Willoughby said. Shortly thereafter, they issued the warning.
Anyone who sees the suspect or suspects is asked to call 9-1-1.
"It would nice to have these buggers locked up," Willoughby said. "This really goads every one of us."
Reporter Colin McDonald can be reached at 523-5259 or at cmcdonald@missoulian.com
