The White Van and the Bearded Kidnapper
I’ve had a bajillion people ask me about the latest rumor. It originated with a blast e-mail by a very nice area mom with the best of intentions. This isn’t her fault. But it got a little out of control and now even children are hearing it at school and we’ve got a little mass hysteria kind of thing going on.
The rumor has blossomed to this: There’s a bearded kidnapper in University Park riding around in a white van trying to snatch kids. Specifically, he attempted to grab a child on Daniel last week.
Here’s what Chief Adams of the UPPD said.
We had a call where a mother reported a suspicious vehicle in her neighborhood. There were no reports of any contacts or attempted contacts by the driver.
Then Adams followed up with this.
The white van was located by UP officers and the white bearded man has been identified. He was legit and delivering some papers. In all we had four calls about this. No one indicated that the subject attempted to pick a child up.
So there you have it.
30 comments to "The White Van and the Bearded Kidnapper"
one call=paranoid mom
four calls=icky looking guy
Maybe some of the community wide viral e-mails and 911 calls could be considered wolf crying but I think this was a mom (or 4 moms) who really felt like something wasn’t quite right. It’s way better to be safe than sorry. But it is funny to think that if the call had been made about a mile east the 911 operator would have hung up on the caller or laughed. In University Park there’s a full investigation.
My husband has a goatee at the moment, it’s not white but should I insist he shave it immediatly to avoid having his pic and liscense plate going viral?
Pedophiles and bad guys come in all colors, shapes and luxury car styles. Our community children might be at greater risk of abuse by going to a Kristian Kamp or an elite sports camp than a creepy guy driving a white van. Don’t be naive, folks.
I just wanted to clarify a few items from your recent blog post.
My wife’s email was far from a “blast email” – she sent it to about 50 friends with similarly aged children – maybe she needs to pare that list.
2. She called the police not because the man was scary (or icky) looking or because he drove a van. She called the police based on the man’s behavior.
3. This may surprise you, but the man delivering papers (that was pulled over on Saturday) and the man that approached two of my children on Friday was not the same man.
4. Your post and subsequent comments seem to imply that all the emails were some sort of overreaction or false alarm, and that there was never any threat from a man in a white van. This is not the case and your implication is irresponsible at best.
It looks like the quote from the police nicely downplays the situation as “the” white van was located and checked out fine. The quote is false. “The” white van (as in the van that prompted our call to the police) was not located. “A” white van certainly was.
The paper delivery driver who was pulled over is probably quite relieved that you and the police (based on the quotes you provided) have done your best to calm the town’s nerves – and in the process dismissed my wife’s call to the police as some sort of well intentioned overreaction. I am sure that the man who approached my children is even more relieved if not downright giddy.
So there you have it.
Jay
Can you please elaborate on what actually happened to your children? Based on your post, it appears that the UPPD investigated the wrong man and that someone did indeed try to make contact with your children. If that’s the case, is Chief Adams aware that he checked out the wrong guy/white van? I’ve been living here since 1993 and the police seem to take this type of thing very seriously; I’ve also received blast emails from UP Elementary on several occasions over the years when a suspicious grownup has approached a child in our neighborhood. Since there wasn’t mention of it via a school blast email or in PCP, was your wife’s concern simply dismissed? I must say that I don’t think Merritt was irresponsible or unsupportive in her reporting of the original email; quite the contrary. She (and most moms around here, myself included) definitely subscribe to the notion of “when in doubt, shout!”…having said that, I also think we all need to be somewhat careful with our observations (i.e. the recent notorious gloved man in the park who was just some guy with a skin condition). At any rate, I am sorry this happened to your family and truly would appreciate any details of what transpired, should you care to add them.
Here is the original e-mail:
Date: February 13, 2010 8:40:08 AM CST
Subject: Re: White Van
I just wanted to let everyone know that the white van was not the paper man. A man in a white van also tried to pick up a little girl on Daniel yesterday.
Please be careful.
(name)
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 12, 2010, at 8:54 AM
Today my older girls were dusting snow off of our trees when a white van pulled up. A man with long grey brown hair smiled at them and got out of the van. He walked up to our neighbor’s house then came towards the girls. They ran inside and he jumped in the van and took off.
Please watch the kids today as they play outside.
Thanks.
(name)
Your city tax rate (police,fire,etc) is one of the lowest if not the lowest in the metroplex.
Our neighborhoods are filled with folks passing out flyers/cards, etc. to our front porches. A day rarely goes by that I don’t find at least one flyer or card somehow attached to my front door or lying on my front porch. Lawn service, handyman, tree service, maid service, housepainters, window washers and on and on and on. I work from home and have my doorbell rung by solicitors at least once a week. From Jehova’s witnessing, teens selling candy, hippy’s with petitions – even a guy selling financial planning which made me laugh! These folks parking all over and leaving their vehicles to flyer or solicit could account for some of the “suspicious” behavior. For the most part these folks don’t look like the typical “parkie”.
What does the typical “Parkie” look like so i will know how to look when i come through. Is there a special look??
To Rebecca Nurse: nice slam you threw in your post. “Kristian Kamp”? I’m not sure why you felt it necessary to add that to this discussion. Prejudice in all its forms is ugly, and I found your reference offensive.
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