The White Van and the Bearded Kidnapper
I’ve had a bajillion people ask me about the latest rumor. It originated with a blast e-mail by a very nice area mom with the best of intentions. This isn’t her fault. But it got a little out of control and now even children are hearing it at school and we’ve got a little mass hysteria kind of thing going on.
The rumor has blossomed to this: There’s a bearded kidnapper in University Park riding around in a white van trying to snatch kids. Specifically, he attempted to grab a child on Daniel last week.
Here’s what Chief Adams of the UPPD said.
We had a call where a mother reported a suspicious vehicle in her neighborhood. There were no reports of any contacts or attempted contacts by the driver.
Then Adams followed up with this.
The white van was located by UP officers and the white bearded man has been identified. He was legit and delivering some papers. In all we had four calls about this. No one indicated that the subject attempted to pick a child up.
So there you have it.
Sounds like an old episode of CHiPs.
What on earth? FOUR women called in on a guy in a white van – just that, a guy in a van??? Chief Adam’s must have the patience of Job. If I were him……….I don’t know how he holds his tongue with these lunatic women finding every man everywhere in the PC’s a potential child molesting kidnapper.
@kmom- while I did actually laugh out loud at your comment and even do that accidental spit on the monitor thing, the guy had to look pretty suspicious for 4 calls to come in.
one call=paranoid mom
four calls=icky looking guy
In the name of safety, I hope no husband in the Park Cities lets his wife carry a gun.
Really though? Santa is an icky looking guy?
I guess its not a good time to be in the market for a white van! Just Kidding!! But seriously there have been ALOT of emails going around lately. It is much too easy to mindlessly forward. You know that function that always asks if you are SURE you want to delete something? They should have that for forwarding as well.
Every heard of the fable re “crying wolf”??? God Bless UPDPS and HPDPS…
@Husband Just Shaved His Beard and Sold the White Van-
Maybe some of the community wide viral e-mails and 911 calls could be considered wolf crying but I think this was a mom (or 4 moms) who really felt like something wasn’t quite right. It’s way better to be safe than sorry. But it is funny to think that if the call had been made about a mile east the 911 operator would have hung up on the caller or laughed. In University Park there’s a full investigation.
Merritt it is your journalistic duty to track down these four women and find out what and why on them calling the police about this. Just like the guy in the park, I cannot understand this. You say it was because he was “icky looking”. Please tell me what that means! I cannot imagine what a guy would have to look like to make me call the police because he drove a van down my street. Seriously! Same thing with the guy in the park with the glove, nice clothes and a Jag! I must be totally oblivious, I’ve never been tempted to call the police because a guy drove a car or van or truck – no matter what he looked like – or a guy was in a park, totally keeping to himself.
My husband has a goatee at the moment, it’s not white but should I insist he shave it immediatly to avoid having his pic and liscense plate going viral?
Good going, I thought someone said that they figured out what the White van driver was about – and UP is having a FULL INVESTIGATION? Really?
Ponder: Where is the line between “better safe than sorry” and “paranoia” or “racism” or “classism” (is that a word?) Is the a new class of people: “those that don’t look like they don’t belong in the Park Cities”? Food for thought….
I think we all have a responsibility to look out for each other. I am happy those four Moms cared enough to call and report any suspicious person. If he was “legit and carrying papers” then what harm was done? The man will go back to his home and tell his friends and co-workers that UP is not the place to linger, because the police will come after you. I could do with less traffic! and for the safety of our loved ones, isn’t that the reason we pay these ridiculous prices for our homes? Not to mention taxes for our police?
Yes, better safe than sorry but this “icky,” “glove-wearing,” “van driving,” (which makes him REALLY icky) email-warning hysteria sounds a lot like the Salem witch hunt. Statistically, crime, especially kidnapping, is about nil in the PC. Also, anyone with half a brain knows that the PC is the wrong place to commit a personal crime, especially against children. Our PD would be all over that person in 2 seconds flat.
Pedophiles and bad guys come in all colors, shapes and luxury car styles. Our community children might be at greater risk of abuse by going to a Kristian Kamp or an elite sports camp than a creepy guy driving a white van. Don’t be naive, folks.
@Merritt–don’t sell DPD short–you just have to have the right kind of suspicious persons. Several years ago while living in PH, I called 911 because a teenage couple decided to “go at it” in the front seat of a parked SUV on the street in front of my house at 5:00 in the evening. It was summer so in BROAD DAYLIGHT. When I explained the situation to the dispatcher her response was “and the problem is?” I told her I had 3 kids and this was not something they needed to have happening in their front yard. She reluctantly agreed to send DPD but told me it was not a priority call. Within minutes a squad car squeals around the corner and the cop jumps out of the car. The kids scrambled to pull themselves together and dump out their Jack in the Box cups before the cop gets to their car. After he ran them off he came to my door to let me know that he could find nothing to charge them with, which was fine because I just wanted them gone. He told me not to hesitate to call back if they returned. He also said that he would keep an eye on things through the rest of his shift. I could not have been happier with the officer’s handling of the situation–even though I found his interest in the “crime” a little creepy.
Merritt,
I just wanted to clarify a few items from your recent blog post.
My wife’s email was far from a “blast email” – she sent it to about 50 friends with similarly aged children – maybe she needs to pare that list.
2. She called the police not because the man was scary (or icky) looking or because he drove a van. She called the police based on the man’s behavior.
3. This may surprise you, but the man delivering papers (that was pulled over on Saturday) and the man that approached two of my children on Friday was not the same man.
4. Your post and subsequent comments seem to imply that all the emails were some sort of overreaction or false alarm, and that there was never any threat from a man in a white van. This is not the case and your implication is irresponsible at best.
It looks like the quote from the police nicely downplays the situation as “the” white van was located and checked out fine. The quote is false. “The” white van (as in the van that prompted our call to the police) was not located. “A” white van certainly was.
The paper delivery driver who was pulled over is probably quite relieved that you and the police (based on the quotes you provided) have done your best to calm the town’s nerves – and in the process dismissed my wife’s call to the police as some sort of well intentioned overreaction. I am sure that the man who approached my children is even more relieved if not downright giddy.
So there you have it.
Jay
To Jay,
Can you please elaborate on what actually happened to your children? Based on your post, it appears that the UPPD investigated the wrong man and that someone did indeed try to make contact with your children. If that’s the case, is Chief Adams aware that he checked out the wrong guy/white van? I’ve been living here since 1993 and the police seem to take this type of thing very seriously; I’ve also received blast emails from UP Elementary on several occasions over the years when a suspicious grownup has approached a child in our neighborhood. Since there wasn’t mention of it via a school blast email or in PCP, was your wife’s concern simply dismissed? I must say that I don’t think Merritt was irresponsible or unsupportive in her reporting of the original email; quite the contrary. She (and most moms around here, myself included) definitely subscribe to the notion of “when in doubt, shout!”…having said that, I also think we all need to be somewhat careful with our observations (i.e. the recent notorious gloved man in the park who was just some guy with a skin condition). At any rate, I am sorry this happened to your family and truly would appreciate any details of what transpired, should you care to add them.
There’s a difference between the rumors resulting from an e-mail (which I believe is the topic of this post) and the actual e-mail that went out. I don’t think the original e-mail is being attacked (probably why it isn’t part of this post) but it differs from what police are saying.
Here is the original e-mail:
Date: February 13, 2010 8:40:08 AM CST
Subject: Re: White Van
I just wanted to let everyone know that the white van was not the paper man. A man in a white van also tried to pick up a little girl on Daniel yesterday.
Please be careful.
(name)
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 12, 2010, at 8:54 AM
Today my older girls were dusting snow off of our trees when a white van pulled up. A man with long grey brown hair smiled at them and got out of the van. He walked up to our neighbor’s house then came towards the girls. They ran inside and he jumped in the van and took off.
Please watch the kids today as they play outside.
Thanks.
(name)
I am very grateful that she sent the email so we knew and could exercise caution. As you can see, the email she sent was very factual, in keeping with her calm and responsible demeanor. S
Ima Mom,
Your city tax rate (police,fire,etc) is one of the lowest if not the lowest in the metroplex.
If Jay & his wife are trying to warn us about dangerous behavior, why do they describe the situation in such vagueness? Called the police because of his “behavior” and he “approached my girls”? Some detail would be awesome.
Our neighborhoods are filled with folks passing out flyers/cards, etc. to our front porches. A day rarely goes by that I don’t find at least one flyer or card somehow attached to my front door or lying on my front porch. Lawn service, handyman, tree service, maid service, housepainters, window washers and on and on and on. I work from home and have my doorbell rung by solicitors at least once a week. From Jehova’s witnessing, teens selling candy, hippy’s with petitions – even a guy selling financial planning which made me laugh! These folks parking all over and leaving their vehicles to flyer or solicit could account for some of the “suspicious” behavior. For the most part these folks don’t look like the typical “parkie”.
Hey kmom,
What does the typical “Parkie” look like so i will know how to look when i come through. Is there a special look??
@BM – it might be the lowest rate, but obviously not the tax amount due!
kmom, the mom that sent the first e-mail out wasn’t stereotyping the man. She gave his description so that people would know who to look for. This man came within 7 feet of her children-close enough to grab them-and then took off when they ran inside. Does that sound like someone who is handing out flyers or ringing doorbells?? And on a day with record snowfall in Dallas, I would think that the solicitors would be able to take the day off. She sent the e-mail to warn her friends and neighbors, who forwarded it to their friends and neighbors for the same reason. Forgive us for wanting to keep our kids safe. The real problem that I see in all of this is people making fun of others who are trying to keep the neighborhood safe. If a child had been abducted, either on Daniel or on the e-mail sender’s street, you all would be complaining that not enough was done.
Ditto what Chia said.
I wonder if Epic Beard Man was making a pass through UP?
To Jay: I’m so thankful that nothing more happened to your children, and so grateful to your wife for her email. Even though we live in a relatively safe area, we need to be reminded that we should always be vigilant. We also don’t need anymore information, your wife’s email was very factual. Anyone asking for more is being nosy, IMO.
To Rebecca Nurse: nice slam you threw in your post. “Kristian Kamp”? I’m not sure why you felt it necessary to add that to this discussion. Prejudice in all its forms is ugly, and I found your reference offensive.
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