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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn 11-year-old girl fought off a knife-wielding man who tried to kidnap her at FL school bus stop
(CNN) An 11-year-old girl waiting for her school bus in Pensacola, Florida, was able to fight off an alleged kidnapping attempt on Tuesday morning and get to safety, authorities said.
A 30-year-old suspect was arrested later that day after a search involving at least 50 deputies and other personnel, Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons told reporters. Surveillance video released by the sheriff's office shows the girl kneeling on the grass at the bus stop when a white Dodge Journey SUV stops on the side of the road. The video shows a man getting out of the car and running toward the girl. Simmons said the man was holding a knife.
The video shows the girl trying to run away before the man grabs her and starts carrying her toward the vehicle. There is a struggle and the girl breaks free from the suspect's grip when they both fall to the ground. The girl can be seen running away as the man hurries back to his car and drives off.
"I cannot help but think that this could have ended very differently. Had this 11-year-old victim not thought to fight and to fight and to just never give up, then this could have ended terrible," Simmons said.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/19/us/florida-kidnapping-attempt-video-trnd/index.html
Buns_of_Fire
(17,121 posts)PortTack
(32,606 posts)malaise
(267,834 posts)You go girl.
Lock him up!
FM123
(10,050 posts)Such a brave little girl, to stand up to and fight that large monster with a knife. May he rot in jail.
Lonestarblue
(9,880 posts)And I include the former guy in that category since I have read the accusation and support for the claim of Trumps rape of a 16-year-old who dropped her case because of death threats. I think it was later settled out of court.
Jon King
(1,910 posts)Unreal story, the guy was a convicted sex offender. He had approached her 2 weeks ago at the bus stop, she got away and her mother drove her to school for 2 weeks. Tuesday was the first day she was at the bus stop alone since then.
The guy must have been watching and waiting for 2 weeks for his chance.
MadLinguist
(781 posts)She finally ventures back out there, and immediately this jackal is waiting for her.
This is not a day that erases itself
The knife was for show so that she'd go without a fight, he wasn't prepared to use it in that situation. He'd have likely killed her later though.
We had a thread a week or so ago about serial killers, and this guy may well have become one, if he wasn't already.
I find a couple of things interesting about this. He lived a short distance away from this bus stop and was supposed to be going to work shortly after. He called his boss to say he would be late right after the failed abduction telling him that he had to take his own child to school. The boss said that was strange because he thought the child was taking classes virtually at home. Also, his coworker said he was acting strangely, taking several calls from his wife in private when he usually speaks in the open to her.
That makes me have a few questions. First, what was his plan for work if the abduction had succeeded? Why hadn't he already told him he was going to be late, or was it just that he was cruising the bus stop each day and didn't know he would be late until he saw the girl? That's probably the answer.
What was he going to do with her if he got her? He doesn't have privacy at home, he can't just show up with a random 11 year old girl with his wife and kids there and expect to keep it secret. So, did he have somewhere else he was going to take her? They need to find that out and hit that place because there's no reason to be sure she's the first.
Next, who was he actually talking to? Since he was being so private I have to assume he was talking about the failed abduction. Was he confessing to his wife? Was she in on it? Or, was he just telling them it was his wife and he was actually talking to someone else? Was he alone in this?
My theory is that he has an accomplice who lives somewhere alone. The plan was to watch this girl and, when the opportunity arose, snatch her and take her to the other mans house where the could hide her without worrying about somebody just walking in and finding them. They would have held her there for a time, but likely not long before killing her and disposing of the body somewhere. Alternatively, he may have just planned to park his van somewhere and do it there, but that doesn't answer why he was taking so many private calls if that's out of the ordinary.
He wasn't wearing a mask so he clearly had no intention of letting her go since he could ID him. He had it all planned out, but he'd failed to realize there were cameras on the bus stop. He also didn't expect her to fight back and it spooked him enough that he was worried it would draw attention to him so he bailed out. I'm very interested to find out if that was actually his wife he was talking to. I suspect it wasn't. It isn't unheard of for a man and woman couple to do this kind of thing but it is very rare. I can't remember ANY case of that happening when there is a child in the home.
If anyone tries to kidnap you, fight for everything you're worth, assume they are going to kill you when they are done. Even if they have a knife or a gun, fight. It's your best chance to survive.
niyad
(112,438 posts)lpbk2713
(42,696 posts)He had to give up and leave quickly. He knew if she kept struggling
he would be seen and someone would come to her aid.
niyad
(112,438 posts)that his God did not make mistakes. I guess that means that this pedophile, this sexual predator, is one of god's perfections?
ansible
(1,718 posts)This modern world is so completely fucked up now, maybe I'm being too overly paranoid but when my son is old enough to go to school I will never, ever let him out of my sight and let him walk alone outside!
Mariana
(14,849 posts)Some of those jobs require the parents to be working when the children are going to or from school.
onetexan
(12,994 posts)Where was mom?
drmeow
(4,996 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Since you're directly implying partial blame of the mom while wholly ignoring the actual bad guy, let's try to at least be equal in our fallacious reasoning.
onetexan
(12,994 posts)I'm making the point that given the fact the child had already mentioned to the mother she was uncomfortable when this pervert approached her, that one would assume the mom would not let the child stand alone at the bus stop. We live in a dangerous world and dangerous country. Hold on to your babies.
maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)Incidents like this are more rare than when we were children.
It is the perception of their frequency that is amplified by internet media - this would have been a local story only 40 years ago.
UnderThisLaw
(318 posts)ask such a ridiculous question?
Dont bother replying, the answer is obvious
rockfordfile
(8,682 posts)Florida is a dangerous place because the un-American DeSantis that seems to have attracted those like a magnet.
maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)It'd be cheaper to have a taxi take them directly to & fro.
Aristus
(66,096 posts)They're just bad news from the word 'go'.
maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)That really wasn't my point, however.