Officials hunt alleged abductor
By Staff and Wire
Published in News on April 22, 2005 1:49 PM
Wayne County authorities are looking for a suspect who allegedly tried to kidnap a 7-year-old girl Tuesday on Vail Road.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office is seeking information on a car with a black hood, roof and trunk and brown side panels. According to detectives, a Spanish-speaking man attempted to lure the girl into the car at about 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The suspect, a passenger in the car, was described as wearing a long black coat and a beret. The driver and another young girl in the back seat could not be described.
When the 7-year-old was approached, she was playing in her yard. Detectives said she grabbed her brother, ran inside and told her mother about the incident. The mother did not see the car, but reported it to the Sheriff's Office.
A description of the car and its occupants was broadcast to law authorities. Anyone with information on the car or the occupants was asked to call Detectives Mike Reid or Robert Chunn at 731-1481.
Concern over child molestation has increased with the national attention focused recently on the case of a 9-year-old Florida girl who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive.
Jessica Lunsford's body was found last month buried near her home in Homosassa, about 60 miles north of Tampa. She had been missing since late February, when she was abducted from her home.
A convicted sex offender has been arrested and charged with her murder. John Evander Couey, 46, lived nearby.
Wayne County authorities say there are 134 sexual offenders registered in the county. They are required by law to report their whereabouts to local law enforcement officers, who are expected to keep track of them.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.