Syracuse residents on edge after reports of 4 attempted child abductions


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SYRACUSE — Parents are taking extra safety measures after hearing reports that men tried to get children into their cars in a Syracuse neighborhood.

Luckily, in the four cases, the children simply turned and ran home. The police are taking this seriously and sending a letter out to parents letting them know what information they have so far on the incidents.

All of the cases happened in the general area of 2150 South and 1475 West, police say.

The latest incident happened Tuesday near an LDS Church. After a Cub Scouts meeting, two brothers, 8 and 10 years old, ended up walking home separately.

Phyllis Moyes said one of her boys told her the man “rolled the window down and said, ‘Hey, get in and I’ll take you home.’ She said her son got spooked and ran home.

“Ten minutes later, the other one had the same exact thing happen. Neither one of them talked to each other before they told me what had happened.”

She said her boys were approached by a man in a light-colored sedan.

“It makes me really nervous, mostly because it’s happening so frequently in that same area and it’s Syracuse,” Moyes said. “I grew up in Syracuse, and you feel violated because it just doesn’t feel safe.”

On Feb. 26, police received a report from a teenage girl that she walked out of her home that morning and saw a bald, white man with a beard parked on the street. He then drove way. On March 3, she reported seeing the same vehicle parked near a bus stop during a snowstorm.

Andrew Sherman said his 11-year-old son was approached by three men in a car Feb. 16.


It makes me really nervous, mostly because it's happening so frequently in that same area and it's Syracuse. I grew up in Syracuse, and you feel violated because it just doesn't feel safe.

–Phyllis Moyes, parent


“He was just out walking his dog, next to the LDS Church there, and this car stops by,” Sherman said. “They tell him to get in the car. He refuses."

His son ran away and the people in the car, reported as an older tan vehicle, called him some obscene names and then drove off, police say.

The next day, another teen was offered candy and told to get in the car. Police say he rode away on his scooter and fell. They reportedly laughed at him and drove away. Both incidents happened after school.

"The people are concerned about what's happening,” Syracuse Police Chief Garrett Atkins said. “We obviously want to make sure that they see more police presence in the area. Additionally, if there is someone in there who has intentions of doing harm to the children, we want them to obviously know that we're aware of it, and we're concerned about what's going on in the neighborhood."

While police are now taking extra patrols through the neighborhood, parents are starting to take some action of their own.

"One time is interesting, but when it happens several times in the same neighborhood, same street, that's when you get concerned," Sherman said.

He has set up a town hall meeting to urge parents and neighbors to be more vigilant.

"I don't know if they're really trying to abduct anyone, maybe just scare them. Maybe they're goofing around in a severely inappropriate manner,” Sherman said. “I don't know what their intention is, but so far all they're doing is inviting them to enter their car."

The neighborhood town hall meeting will be 7 p.m. Friday the LDS Church meetinghouse at 2024 S. 1475 West.

Police said they don't know if the incidents are connected. They have extra officers patrolling in the area and knocking on doors to see if anyone has any information about the incidents.

Atkins said he will be at the meeting to address concerns.

“If this incident on Tuesday was by chance a misunderstanding, where a neighbor was just trying to be a nice person and saw two kids walking the cold and really did know who they were, and was trying to take them home, we'd sure love to hear from them,” Atkins said.

He did say he was proud of the residents who taught their children what to do in these kinds of situations.

“None of the kids approached the vehicle. They all ran away,” Atkins said. “Ultimately, the kids in these situations were safe because of what their parents have trained them to do.”

People in the neighborhood want to make sure parents take those same measures.

“It’s a wake-up call for me,” Moyes said. “We don’t live in the same kind of world that we used to.”

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