MN - boy, 9, escapes kidnapper

North Branch boy, 9, escapes from his captor

North Branch police said Thursday that the apparent abduction of a 9-year-old boy from a mobile home park could be connected to similar abduction attempts in Mankato and Mower County.

The boy, who told police he managed to escape from the back seat of the suspect's car and travel 2 miles home, was taken Wednesday afternoon while emptying the garbage at his family's home in the Countryside Village Mobile Home Park, North Branch Police Chief Stephen Forner said.

The boy fled when the white 4-door car heading south on County Road 30 slowed to make a left turn into a service station, Forner said. The boy told police his abductor was 30 to 40 years old, stocky, with light brown hair and a goatee that reached his chest. He was wearing a red shirt, baseball cap and tennis shoes, the boy told police.

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The chief said authorities consider the boy's information "very credible and authentic."

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He said police from Mankato responded and told him they had at least three reports of abduction attempts in recent months involving a suspect with a similar description and driving a similar vehicle. Forner later received a call from Mower County in southern Minnesota about a similar incident. All the incidents involved children younger than 14.

More: http://www.startribune.com/local/50...yP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUac8HEaDiaMDCinchO7DUhttp://www.startribune.com/local/50414627.html?page=2&c=y

its awful they have to be that way, but i am so proud of this little boy and that those other two girls. the one that called her friend and her friend went and got help. its a shame we have to teach kids what to do. i think in school, perhaps as part of gym class they start teaching self defense to kids and maybe even act out suggestions of what to do. perhaps having programs like this in the school could help save some kids.

I am so thankful this little boy was able to escape.

That is so scary! We're not too far from there. I'm so glad he was able to escape.

I am so grateful that this child escaped----what a little trooper he is! But the kidnapper seems to be persistent, if they don't catch him NOW, he will do it again.

athy said:

its awful they have to be that way, but i am so proud of this little boy and that those other two girls. the one that called her friend and her friend went and got help. its a shame we have to teach kids what to do. i think in school, perhaps as part of gym class they start teaching self defense to kids and maybe even act out suggestions of what to do. perhaps having programs like this in the school could help save some kids.

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What a great idea! Maybe we should all start proposing this to our local school boards!

YellowSubmarine said:

What a great idea! Maybe we should all start proposing this to our local school boards!

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i already sent an email to our local school board. i don't have any kids in this area but i have the attitude that these children's lives are all our responsibility. if i can help one kid by implementing something like this in this area...awesome.

The boy wasn't actually abducted, it was a hoax.http://www.startribune.com/local/north/50655812.html

Lotus said:

The boy wasn't actually abducted, it was a hoax.http://www.startribune.com/local/north/50655812.html

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jeesh
make his family pay restitution for all the taxpayer money wasted on this nonsense while the real kidnapping cases got overlooked

kbl8201 said:

jeesh
make his family pay restitution for all the taxpayer money wasted on this nonsense while the real kidnapping cases got overlooked

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I don't think it's his families fault.

If I were his mother, his tail end would be getting more attention than he ever thought possible

To me, it's a cry for help...not just attention. Nine year old boys are known to suffer the onset of mental illness at that developmental stage. It's a tremendously tough time for boys. The brain chemistry undergoes a huge change at that age.

Remember our little guy last week who committed suicide at age 9?

I want to kick his bunnies too but then I realize that he didn't do this just for fun. He needs help.

In doing just a quick search, I learned that Conduct Disorder and Bipolar Disorder commonly have an onset somewhere around age 7-10. Boys are more heavily represented. Depression and ADHD also have an increase of diagnoses at that age.

An interesting resource:

http://www.bpkids.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lrn_about

kids used to set off fire alarms and do prank calls all the time .granted they arnt as serious but still imho. he just did it for the attention i think .. i dont think its a cry for help and i DONT think his parents should be held accountable for something HE did, 9 year old kids are pretty mature now adays wayyy more so than when i was a child .. that is exactly what is wrong with some of the kids today .. they arnt held responsible everyone points the finger at thier parents and the kids see this happening all over the news and on blogs ..so they figure oh well my parents will get into trouble not me .. now granted some parents deserve it but how do we know these parents do ? .. a parent never has total control over what thier child does when the parent isnt right there with the child .. i think that boy should do communty service for at least 2 years and not be allowed to do anything he likes for a good long while ..kids hear about these abductions in the news all the time ..it couldve even been a dare from a friend .. mabey the parents did know and if they did then yes i totally agree they should be held accountable but if they didnt then they shouldnt have any punishment over this .. who knows ..some people are kookberries these days