OWASSO, Okla. — Owasso police want parents to be on alert after two alleged abduction calls hours apart are being investigated by the department.
A parent in the Country Estates neighborhood called OPD a little after 6 p.m. on Feb. 26, and said an individual tried to lure their child and a group of children into his vehicle. After talking to the families, officers learned the initial call was not an isolated incident for the day.
“They went out to canvas the area to see if they could get video from ring cameras or exterior video cameras to get a picture of the suspect and ended up running across another group of juveniles who were a little bit younger who said they encountered a similar incident that happened earlier in the afternoon,” said Lieutenant Nick Boatman with the Owasso Police Department.
The first group of children included 12 and 13-year-olds, and the second group included 9 and 10-year-olds. Neither group seemed to know about the other encounter.
It happened while the younger children walked home from the bus stop and a man approached them between 3:30 P.M. and 3:45 P.M. Three hours later, the older children reported a similar incident.
“The suspect himself was described by both individual groups as being a white male with a light or kind of a dirty blonde colored beard, very slender athletic build and he had tattoos a lot of neck tattoos and both groups kind of honed in on the neck tattoos,” said Boatman.
While the specific make of the vehicle is unclear, the groups agree it looks something like a Jeep Compass. The children all said it was light silver.
Owasso police do not want fear the community, but they do want families to be aware of the situation. Boatman encouraged parents to talk to their kids to make sure they are alert when out on their own.
“Make sure you talk to your children about stranger danger, make sure that they walk in groups, that they do collectives on the school bus, make sure that they watch out for each other. The older kids can have cellphones, that is what actually scared off this individual on the second incident is one of the kids picked up the phone like they were going to call somebody and that’s when the suspect left.”
Additional officers started patrolling and monitoring the area after school the day after the incident. OPD is looking at neighbors security cameras to see if any caught the incident and encouraged neighbors in the area to check their footage.
Boatman said the department takes every call seriously and investigates tips, running plates, and anything else to locate a suspect in the case.
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