Joseph Yump
Posted on 08/12/2009 7:23:02 PM PDT by marktwain
VERNAL -- Authorities are crediting an alert driver in Vernal for foiling the attempted kidnapping of an 8-year-old boy. Shalyn Searle says she never thought twice about stopping to help the boy.
"He was screaming out, ‘Help me! Help me!' I could hear him from in my car with the windows rolled up," Searle said. Kid Canal, where boy was fishing
She was on her way home Sunday morning when she saw a man, later identified as 22-year-old Joseph Yump, grabbing a little boy who was fishing at Kid's Canal.
"He was kicking and screaming. The guy had him by the wrists and up here on the arm," Searle explained. "He lifted him up off the ground."
Searle pulled over, called 911 and got out of her car. Once the suspect knew someone was watching him, he let go of the boy and continued to go north on 1500 West. Minutes later, he was arrested a few blocks away at 500 North.
Searle says she was just concerned about the boy, who was visibly shaken up.
"The little boy told me, ‘I tried to jump in the water to get away," Searle said. "I was like, ‘You don't know him at all?' He said, ‘No.' Then he said to me that, you know, 'He said he wasn't going to kill me.'"
Searle has a concealed weapons permit and a gun in her car. She can't believe she was put in a situation where she thought about using it.
"It's something I'll never forget, that little boy's face," she said. "You see stuff like that on TV and you don't think it can happen to you. And I'm sure people don't think it can happen to their children."
The Uintah County Sheriff's Office says Yump is known around town for his strange behavior, but he has never done anything like this before.
Searle says it didn't surprise her that the boy was without a parent, because Vernal is seen as a small, safe town.
Wait until this story gets out: every damned pedo in the country will be there.
Good thing she did not work for certain American corporations or she would now be out of a job!
A heroine. I hope many good things come to her.
Shame she didn’t use the gun. The perp is only 22 and will eventually get out of jail and strike again.
Joseph Yump
Vernal is a great town, I spend a year there.
yep, shame about not using the gun. Creep. This woman has guts and my respect and admiration
Goosebumps Bump. Yump is beyond creepy/scary looking. Thank God she wasn’t afraid to get involved.
Vernal is a place where i was thinking of relocating. perhaps i should. they have a large dinosaur in their park. in Harvard we have a cow.
I have always told my grandchildren to yell at the top of their lungs if someone tries to grab them. We’ve practiced.
But she didn't fire it, let alone kill the perp, the gun grabbers won't cout it as a "save" with a gun.
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