Kidnappers Attempt to Snatch 2 Girls Near Shelton, WA School

Shelton, WA police are investigating two attempted kidnappings of young girls Tuesday afternoon in the same area.

In the first instance, a 12-year-old girl was walking home from school just before 3 p.m. when she was approached by a man in a car in the 1500 block of Jefferson Street near Olympic Middle School and Mountain View Elementary School, according to Shelton Police Chief Darrin Moody. The man told the girl to get into the car or he would "hurt" her.

The man in that incident was described as driving a light brown SUV similar to a Chevy Tahoe. He was described as Caucasian, about 30 years old with a skinny build and wearing an orange cap.

Then about an hour later, an 8-year-old girl was walking along "K" Street near Jefferson Street after exiting a school bus and said a man in a car approached her and told her to come to him.

It's not known yet if the same suspect is involved in both incidents, says Capt. Mike Fiola with Shelton Police. He says the suspect descriptions are somewhat different, but have some similarities.

In the second event, the suspect was driving a light blue, Jeep-type car and was described as white or Hispanic, with long sleeve white/blue plaid short with brown hair and was wearing glasses.
(KOMO 4 News, September 18, 2018)
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The probability of there being two separate, random, child abduction attempts in the same immediate geographic area within an hour is highly unlikely.

If the statements of the girls are true (i.e. they are not making up stories about kidnappers) then the two events almost have to be related. Either a single individual is attempting to abduct a young girl, or a group of two or more are working together to commit this crime.

According to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File, there are 88,089 active missing person records, of which juveniles under the age of 18 account for 32,121 (36.5%) of the records (as of December 31, 2017).

Kids Live Safe has a free on-line e-book that contains Steps to Protecting Your Children from Abduction and Kidnapping.

One recommendation that I like is the use of personal alarms. These alarms are much louder that a child's cry's for help. Any child can use these alarms to help protect themselves from abduction, as well as call for help when facing other potential dangers.