Most days, children of all ages run around the courtyards of a sprawling Oak Park apartment complex. They dash in and out of one another's homes, play video games, goof off with their friends. Posted on 07/18/2002 9:40:01 AM PDT by FresnoDA
July 18, 2002
Most days, children of all ages run around the courtyards of a sprawling Oak Park apartment complex. They dash in and out of one another's homes, play video games, goof off with their friends.
But yesterday, no children were out playing. Hardly anyone was outside.
All afternoon, school buses dropped off many of the 300 children who live here, but within minutes they were gone, spending a beautiful sunny day inside because their parents were afraid for their safety.
Afraid because, on Tuesday, someone tried to snatch an 8-year-old girl outside the 500-unit complex. In the middle of the afternoon. In front of the manager's office. And with numerous other children in sight.
"We were caught off guard," said Marlena Lewis, coordinator of an after-school program at the apartment complex and the person who called police. "I mean, it happened in broad daylight. The highway's right there. He could have gotten her in the car and they would have been long gone."
The girl was waiting at a bus stop with her older sister near Bayview Heights Place about 4 p.m. when a man tried to grasp her arm and drag her into his vehicle. The girl broke free, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. She was upset but not hurt.
The incident has residents especially afraid because it came just a day after 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was abducted in Orange County. Samantha's body was found Tuesday; her killer has not been caught.
Residents are afraid, too, because the memories are still fresh of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, who was kidnapped from her Sabre Springs home in the middle of the night in February and later found slain. And of 2-year-old Jahi Turner, reported missing from Golden Hill by his stepfather in April. He has not been found.
So, residents of the Oak Park apartments are keeping their children under a watchful eye and behind closed doors.
"It's deserted; it's like a ghost town," said Shrrell Archie, as she sat on the stoop leading to her apartment.
Her 9-year-old son, Eddie Anderson, was inside watching TV because she won't let him out to play.
"It's a shame to keep your kids prisoner," Archie said. "But I won't let him out of the house until they catch" the would-be abductor.
Police were cautious in making any link between the Oak Park incident and the Orange County case, although they did note similarities.
In the Orange County case, authorities are seeking a Latino with thick black hair and a thin black mustache who was driving a green compact car. They have described him as a potential serial killer who could strike again. He is believed to be in his 20s or 30s.
The man suspected of trying to kidnap the girl in Oak Park was described as Latino, in his mid-40s, with black hair and a mustache. He is about 5 feet 5 inches with a medium to heavy build and may be wearing braces. He was driving a tan or gold van.
On the day the Oak Park abduction attempt occurred, authorities in San Diego, particularly along the border, were looking for the Orange County kidnapper, thinking he might try to drive through San Diego on the way to Mexico.
Residents of the surrounding Oak Park neighborhood are working to get the word out about the attempted kidnapping. Margo Leimbach, president of the Oak Park Community Council, is contacting churches, schools and Neighborhood Watch leaders and sending out information via e-mail.
"These people are getting so blatant, doing this in broad daylight," she said. "What do we tell our kids now?"
That question was much on the minds of many parents as they played at parks and lakes around the county yesterday. Most were especially careful about keeping a watchful eye on their children.
Jessica Russell of North Park said she looks around the Balboa Park playground while her 2-year-old daughter and niece play, suspicious of all the adults.
"I'm wondering who the kidnapper is," she said.
And she's so anxious about the girls' safety when they visit the park that she can't relax.
"It's nerve-racking," Russell said. "I can't even read the paper because I'm trying to watch them."
Rebecca Gladden of Escondido said she gave her daughter Ashley, 11, a cell phone a few days ago so they could keep in contact while Ashley attends day camp this summer. They also talk often about how to stay safe.
"I tell her that she doesn't have to be polite to strangers," Gladden said.
The parents of young boys are being careful, too.
Lisa Robinson said she used to let her three boys play without supervision while she played tennis at Kit Carson Park in Escondido. But, after the van Dam kidnapping, the boys – ages 8, 9 and 12 – wanted to stay close to her at the tennis court.
"I have no preconceived notions that boys are any safer than girls," she said.
Police are continuing their investigation in the Oak Park case.
"We are taking this attempted kidnap very seriously and are asking for help from the public if they know any information on a possible suspect," police spokesman Robinson said.
Child-abuse detectives said people with information should call (619) 531-2260.
Probably only how big, and is it bent?
The Oak Park and Runnion cases may well be related--we've got a brazen guy running around out there. The MO is a little different from the Van Dam case, however--daytime abduction, dumped in the open, abductions from apartment complexes with congregations of kids, not suburban neighborhoods with kids playing in their yards or sleeping in their beds. If they catch this guy, I have no problem with Feldman investigating to see if there's any way he can try to pin Danielle on him. That's his job. But, given the blood, hair and fibers and everything (which we don't need to get into again--I know you disagree), I think the prosecution already has the right guy.
I imagine lots of molestation abductions display superficial similarities. For example, the Klaas case. Abducted at night from the home, dumped in a rural area. But that guy's in prison right now, so we know he didn't do it. The Smart case. Abducted at night from her home...I bet she turns up in a forest in Utah or a bordering state.
These monsters tend to have some characteristics in common--the desire for a short time of gratification using children, which dictates the method of abduction, followed by the recognition of the need for self preservation, which dictates both the need to kill the child, followed by the need to destroy or hide the evidence.
So, while it is always important to investigate any possibility connections, I wouldn't read too much into any similarities across the board.
But when it comes to the everyday mundane coincidences that constitute the case against Westerfield, those are just fine?
You are right, I've been too tough on Wester for some simple "coincidences". Why, just the other day, I took a jacket in for cleaning, and damned if a neighbor girl's blood didn't turn up on it. When that girl turned up dead, I was real glad the police understood that it was all just one big coincidence.
Innuendo is rampant on Free Republic...in fact, it is what gets the creative juices of "thinking" to flow...
Unless said juices are ALL DRIED UP...
Sorry you have no problem with Brenda becoming a spokesperson for "How To Keep Your Kids Out Of Trouble"
If you think that Kim is wrong about Westerfield's guilt, the way to point that out is not by suggesting that the father murdered his daughter, but by attacking the grounds that Kim cites for believing in Westerfield's guilt. If you believe that the father IS the killer of his daughter (and I haven't checked your posts to see if you really believe that or are just being "rhetorical" in your allegations about the Van Dams being involved in the murder), then that's a different story, but you better be prepared to support it if the parents ever decide to make an example of any high profile internet mavens who have defamed them.
As a matter of fact, I have NO PROBLEM calling them SICK, PERVERTED, DRUNKEN, STONED HEDONISTS THAT ENJOY EXTRAMARITAL SEX.
I would love for them to sue me based on that statement, because the evidence presented so far confirms the statement.
File the suits...
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