8:45 a.m. - 2006-02-20
Watch Your Children
A family member wrote about this and left a link to go here. So , I, who try to educate alot of you thought I would copy it and insert it here. Sometimes it is much easier to do things this way when you really have nothing to say.
By JUSTIN BOGGS and KATHERINE ROSENBERG/Staff Writers
APPLE VALLEY — Add two more to the list.
School officials Thursday disclosed additional reports of attempted abductions that took place earlier this month, marking a total of 10 such incidents in Apple Valley since the beginning of the school year.
Officials from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Apple Valley station announced they have taken over the investigation and will replace the Apple Valley Unified School District Police as the lead agency on the case.
In its first act as the investigating agency, the sheriff's station released a composite sketch of a man they believe may be responsible for some of the crimes.
The description does not match that of another suspect identified by an AVUSD police dispatcher on Wednesday.
A composite sketch of an attempted kidnapping suspect from the Apple Valley sheriff's station and four letters from the Apple Valley Unified School District.
It remains unclear how many suspects are responsible for the kidnaping attempts.
The two additional reports of attempted abductions were reported to parents through letters sent home with students.
Even though school and sheriff's officials were interviewed about kidnaping attempts that occurred Feb. 10 and Tuesday, none mentioned the additional incidents, which occurred on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8.
Dr. Steven Webb, superintendent of Apple Valley Unified School District, offered no explanation of why all attempted abductions involving district students hadn't been disclosed to the media.
"We're sending out 15,000 letters to parents and students and members of the public that we serve," said Webb. "In the future, we will be happy to send out copies of this public information to the Daily Press if they are requesting it."
In the Feb. 7 incident, a female Granite Hills High School student was approached near Mesquite and Nisqually roads. A man tried to pull the girl into the truck he was driving, according to the letter from Webb. The student ran and hid nearby and later reported the incident to authorities.
She reported the man as a Hispanic male in his 30s, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches, with an average build and short, brown hair, unshaven and having a pointy chin, the letter said.
The suspect was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt with paint stains of an unknown color, the letter said. He was driving an older model, white Toyota-type pickup truck with primer spots on the passenger side of the tailgate.
The following day, a female Apple Valley High School student walking to school near Navajo and Sioux roads was approached by a man in front of the Mormon Church, a separate letter from Webb said.
The man asked the student's name and she ignored him. The man then grabbed the girl and asked her name again, and she reportedly kicked him and ran away.
That suspect is described as a white male, 30 to 40 years old, with blue eyes, brown curly hair that reached his neck, some facial hair and unshaven. He smelled of cigarettes and was last seen wearing army pants, a green trench coat and dirty, white tennis shoes, the letter said.
The AVUSD police dispatcher said that her agency had been focusing its efforts on finding a slender Hispanic male with a shaved head described in many of the incidents, but the Sheriff's Department is focusing on a black male about 35 with a shaved head and a goatee with one lazy eye who was reportedly involved in the Feb. 10 incident.
Officials have warned of the likelihood of copycats. School and police officials remind students to be wary of all strangers and exercise appropriate caution as their investigation continues.
Until next time, please clix me.
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