Crime & Safety

Beware of Potential Child Abductor

Eureka parent tells Patch that residents believe a would-be child abductor was in the local area this week after the man tried to kidnap a boy in Fredericktown. KMOV-TV reports the man is suspected of another attempt last month.

Parents in the area should beef up their security measures, and encourage their children to apply 'stranger danger' tactics.

Brett Steckler, owner of , lives in the Ashton Woods neighborhood in Eureka. She informed Patch this afternoon that on Monday, a man in a dark-colored pickup truck went in her neighbor's front yard and tried to get her step-daughter to enter his vehicle.

"Thankfully she ran away, but didn't tell anyone, because she thought she wouldn't be believed," said Steckler.

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She said another neighbor's boy was out there, too, and told his mom. "The police were not called, however, when I found out about this, I called the police."

Steckler said she got more alarmed today when she saw a piece on KMOV-TV about what appeared to be the same truck driver who has tried to abduct kids in other areas of Missouri over the last month. 

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"We are scared to death, and we need to reach as many people as possible to keep a look out for these horrible people and to protect our kids," said Steckler. "Our neighborhood is full of little kids, and I just want everyone to be careful and not let their precious babies out of their sight!"

According to the KMOV-TV report, authorities believe two men who tried to abduct a boy in Fredericktown and Viburnum may be the same men who attempted a kidnapping in Bonne Terre last month.  

Police said a 10-year-old Fredericktown boy got away Thursday when two men in a pickup truck stopped and told him to get in. The child was not harmed, however his mother took him to an emergency room because he was so upset, according to KMOV.

The same men tried to abduct another person in Viburnum around the same time period, according to authorities.

Bonne Terre Police Chief Doug Calvert told KMOV the same suspects may have tried to coax a 7-year-old girl into their truck in mid-May. That child also ran away.

Police seek a dark-colored, possibly black, Ford Ranger pickup.

The best description of the driver who is:  slim, with dark hair, possibly long, and a beard or goatee.


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