CA - Man sought in attempted kidnap of 2 girls, Whittier, 2013

MAN SOUGHT IN ATTEMPTED KIDNAP OF 2 CALIF. GIRLS

WHITTIER, Calif. (AP) -- An 11-year-old girl walking alone near a Southern California park was grabbed by a man and shoved into the back seat of a car where a sobbing 7-year-old was being held...

The young girls were apparently the target of the same man prowling Whittier neighborhood parks for young victims earlier this month.

Much more at http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-02-22-12-45-22

Girl, 11, escapes from masked kidnapper in Whittier, frees another abducted

Posted: 02/21/2013 07:50:46 PM PST
Updated: 02/22/2013 10:04:06 AM PST

WHITTIER - Police and community members were on high alert Friday following reports of a predator in a red convertible attempting to kidnap girls in Whittier.


http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_22640976/girls-escape-from-kidnapper-whittier#ixzz2LeXoYiIF

WTF? Something is VERY wrong with this picture.

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_22640976/girls-escape-from-kidnapper-whittier#ixzz2Lf22e000

Police had not found the younger girl Friday, White said. The department hadn't received any reports of missing children.


http://ktla.com/2013/02/22/kidnapping-suspect-sought-in-whittier/#43bqsxejLxjbUot6.99

The 11-year-old was able to get out of the car, freeing herself and the other girl. They both ran in opposite directions.

The 11-year-old was able to find her way home and called police.
However, the other unidentified girl’s whereabouts were unknown.

Sketch released of suspect:

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013...h-of-suspect-wanted-for-attempted-kidnapping/


In all three cases, the suspect was last seen driving an unknown make or model red 2-door convertible with a tan roof and a softball-sized dent in the right rear panel.

The common suspect description is that he is Hispanic, about 25-35 years old and 5’11″ to 6 feet tall, with a medium to heavy build.

In the most recent incident, the victim described the suspect as having short black hair, with a tattoo of three red dots on his left hand.

Investigators say the man is becoming more bold in recent attacks.

He used force to grab at least one girl, possibly two to put them into his car Thursday.

Authorities believe the use of a mask is also a sign that he is becoming more determined.

http://ktla.com/2013/02/22/kidnapping-suspect-sought-in-whittier/#ixzz2LhLfWQ94

So ant word on the missing 4 year old? This i so strange.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Whittier-Police-Search-for-Kidnapper-192544951.html

Wait! What?????

• The suspect makes at least 3 attempts at abduction within 2 weeks, one of them successful.
• There apparently is a 4th successful abduction as well since there was already a crying child in the back seat during the susccessful 3rd attempt.
• The same car is described in the 3 attempts - a red convertible, tan roof, with a dent in the rear.
• All 5 apparent victims have gotten away from the suspect.
• There is an unidentified young victim who reportedly got away, but now cannot be found.
• There has been a published description of the suspect, including a sketch. The desciption included a distictive tattoo of 3 dots on the suspect's hand.
• There has been no report of a reward offered to identify the suspect.

That seems like a very distinctive car to me. It seems likely it would be easy to spot, unless it is being kept in a garage.

The the report of a distinctive tattoo on the suspect's hand seems like it would identify him quickly, at least to his family/friends/acquaintances. I suppose it could have been magic marker or even dirt stain that made the 3 dots and not a tattoo at all.

The suspect seems inept to have let at least 4, possible 5 victims escape to bear witness against him.

Regarding the unidentified/unlocated 5th victim, could it be that 1)she was quickly recaptured by the suspect after the escape when she ran in the opposite direction from the victim who reported seeing her in the car OR 2)she is a family member of the suspect and they became reunited after the escape OR 3)the victim who reported seeing her was hallucinating, and imagined seeing a phantom victim in the car with her as a way to cope with the terror she was undoubtedly feeling in the moment?

This is a very very unusual case. The pieces of info we have do not fit together.

While I speculate on the questions I posed above, I am leaning MORE toward some possible faulty reporting of the facts thus far as an explanation. Several recent cases have left me realizing that the news we get about these crimes ALWAYS changes as days and weeks go on. We often go on wild goose chases in trying to sleuth particulars that have been reported, and then later find the info as reported was dramatically inaccurate.

I guess we will just have to wait and see on this one.

How do they know the unaccounted for 7 year old was in fact 7?

Maybe the other girl asked her age.

Possible that the 7 year old feels like she did something wrong [obviously incorrectly, but kids can think that way] and thus didn't
tell her parents/guardians or anyone.

I still think something is fishy about this. Seriously weird.

A guy stopping and asking girls to get in the car isn't an actual abduction attempt. If the 11 year old really was grabbed and put into the car the younger child could be the guy's daughter or relative. The story does sound off though.

But if the younger girl was a daughter or relative, why did that one run too?
Why no appeal made for the 7 year old to be brought forward?
Why no description of the 7 year old? Was she also hispanic? White? Black?
If the 11 year old knows the girl was 7, she should be able to tell a basic description. :twocents:

That many people have seen this guy and the car, and no one got the license plate number?