Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Third child abduction attempt reported

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Tomé Sheriff's deputies are on high alert after a girl reported that a man grabbed her and tried to shove her in his truck Monday afternoon as she was walking home from the school bus stop.

Monday's incident is the third attempted abduction of young girls in Valencia County in the past month. Authorities believe that the same individual is responsible for all three incidents.

Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera said the latest attempted abduction occurred Monday at about 3:30 p.m. when an 11-year-old girl got off the school bus at N.M. 47 and Tavalopa Road. He said a man, driving a black Toyota pickup truck, pulled up next to the girl and grabbed her.

"He tried shoving her into the vehicle," Rivera said. "She struggled and was able to cut loose from him and run to her house."

Rivera said the girl, who was not hurt during the incident, told deputies that the man was dark-skinned, possibly Hispanic, 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds. The girl said the man had a thin goatee and mustache, pock marks on his face and black, slicked-back hair. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black jeans.

"We suspect it's the same man," Rivera said. "The description of the man and the vehicle he was driving is similar to the other two incidents."

The sheriff said the black Toyota pickup truck described by the girl in the latest incident had tinted windows and a chrome bumper that had a medium-sized dent on the passenger side. Most of the letters on the tailgate had been painted black with the exception of the "T" and "O." The sheriff said the girl was unable to get a license plate number because something was covering it.

Last Thursday, another 11-year-old girl reported that a man pulled off her shirt in the backyard of her El Cerro Mission home. The man fled the area after hearing the girl's mother pull into the driveway.

A man who heard the call on his scanner and came to try to help told officers he saw a black Toyota pickup leaving the area. He was able to jot down the license number.

Two weeks earlier, deputies received a report from a 14-year-old old girl who said a man driving a black Toyota pickup truck approached her as she walking home from the bus stop in El Cerro Mission. She told deputies the man asked her for her name and how old she was.

It was at that time that she took out a cell phone out and acted as if she was calling authorities. She told deputies that's was when the man sped off.

In the first two incidents, witnesses were able to get a license plate number — KZQ-179. Deputies say that the plate is registered to a Volkswagen van from Algodones. They say they're not sure if the plate or the vehicle is stolen.

None of the three girls were injured during the incidents, Rivera said, but were all shaken by what had occurred.

"Until we get this guy, parents need to have someone, an adult, at the bus stop to pick up the children," Rivera said. "We need people to be very observant and if they see anything suspicious or anyone who they haven't seen at the bus stop before, to call us."

He also advises parents to tell their children that if they are confronted, or if anyone tries to grab them, to "scream, bite and do anything and everything possible to make it known that this guy is trying to take them," the sheriff said. "And try and get away." He also said kids should walk home in groups and avoid walking alone.

Rivera said he has every deputy and detective on high alert with all available personnel patrolling bus stops in eastern Valencia County, where all three incidents have occurred. Rivera said detectives are actively following up on several tips they've received since the attempted abductions were made public.

"We're looking at every avenue we can think of to catch this guy," the sheriff said. "Right now, the whole department is looking for this individual, but we also need the public's help."

Desi Garcia, director of security for the Los Lunas Schools, said his office and school resource officers are working closely with the sheriff's department by patrolling bus stops. He said school bus drivers are also on the look-out for any suspicious activity when they drop off students.

"The bus drivers are in constant contact with all our resource officers between 3 and 4 p.m. when they're dropping off the kids," Garcia said. "We take these things very seriously, and we're taking our part in assisting to make sure these kids are getting home safe."

Anyone with information about these incidents or the individual being sought is asked to call the Valencia County Sheriff's Department at 866-2400.

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