Pasco Police Discover Child Kidnapping Attempt Untrue
There have been reports about a Pasco Walmart alleged luring and attempted kidnapping of a 12-yr-old girl that's been circulating on social media so the Pasco Police jumped into action to investigate the posting.
The security video from Walmart showed a different story than the one that was posted all over social media the last few days. Here is what the Pasco Police posted on their Facebook page about the incident:
UPDATE: NO SAFETY ALERT NEEDED. We will update with some details tomorrow, but the parents out there need to know that none of the claims of danger or fear reported by the poster have been verified. In fact, the poster and their child are on video throughout Walmart, walking past a stationary man the post claimed "followed" them. Eventually, they pay and exit by pushing out the cart to their car, getting in, and driving off. There was no abandoning the cart, no dragging the child out by the arm, and no crying in the car for several minutes. Officers spent hours following up on this case today and found that the described alarming circumstances simply did not occur. We will have more details tomorrow.
WALMART ALLEGED KIDNAP ATTEMPT: We heard about an alleged case, an attempt to lure a 12-year-old girl. We heard about it the same way you did, a post on Facebook. We were NOT notified at the time. We were able to track down the poster and get some details. We are investigating. At this point, we are ALWAYS in favor of parents keeping track of their children in public but we have no special safety alert to pass on. We will pass on details when we have some. Your children's safety is our priority, but rampant internet pot-stirring is not our goal.
Again, KUDOS to our Pasco Police Department for digging into the case and discovering the truth behind the posting.