Code Word Wards Off Potential Kidnapper

Code Word Wards Off Potential Kidnapper


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(Salt Lake City-AP) -- A family's 'code word' is being credited with thwarting a would-be kidnapper.

Police say a man approached seven-year old Anthony Gettler and his six-year old sister Alexa when they got off the bus on Wednesday.

The man in the blue van asked Anthony if he wanted to get in. When he said no, the man asked him if he wanted cotton candy, then offered him a new bike.

But Anthony asked the man if he knew the 'code word'. And when he didn't, the little boy and his sister ran to a nearby woman to ask for help.

The children's mother told the boy to use a code word if he were confronted by someone he didn't know. And Salt Lake City police say the plan worked perfectly.

The man's described as a heavyset white man with a mustache and glasses, around 55-years old.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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