The Chicago Police Department issued a community alert after a suspect tried to kidnap a five-year-old girl on the city’s Northwest Side in broad daylight.
The girl and her mother were walking in the 5100 block of West Fullerton Avenue around 11:58 a.m. Thursday in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood, when an unknown man started to follow them, WGN-TV reported.
According to police, the suspect started a conversation with the two and offered the mother an unknown amount of cash for her daughter.
When the mother refused, the man tried to grab the girl by the hair to pull her towards him, police said. The mother and the child were able to get away from the suspect safely.
The incident was captured on video and released by the police department.
Detectives described the male suspect as Hispanic with a thin beard and around 20 to 25 years of age. He’s around 5 foot, 6 inches in height, and weighs about 160 pounds. The man was wearing a black hat, black t-shirt, and red shorts.
Chicago Police urge anyone with information about the offender or incident to call the Area Five Detective Bureau at (312) 746-6554 and reference RD# JF387-994.
Recent Disturbing Kidnapping Attempts in Public Places
The Chicago incident is not the only disturbing attempted kidnapping in broad daylight in recent days. The following two cases appear to involve repeat offenders.
MEA WorldWide reports a sex offender was arrested in August in Port Orange, FL, accused of trying to “purchase” an 8-year-old girl from her mother at a grocery store. The suspect was already on probation for similar offenses. He allegedly tried to buy another child in a Walmart in 2018.
And My San Antonio reports an incident that occurred in a Walmart in San Antonio, Texas. A woman reportedly grabbed a shopping cart that had a little 4-year-old girl in it and tried to walk off with her.
The mother screamed at the would-be kidnapper and chased her down with the help of store staff. Police said she has been placed under arrest and stands accused of trying a similar kidnapping at another store.
Memphis Mom’s Alleged Kidnapper and Murderer Faces Unrelated Kidnapping, Rape Charges
And there’s an update to a separate kidnapping that took place recently in Memphis.
As CBN News reported last week, the City of Memphis, Tennessee, has been shaken by several high-profile killings in recent weeks, including the slaying of a woman who was abducted while she was on a pre-dawn run.
The woman, 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher, was a wife, the mother of two children, and a kindergarten teacher. She was reportedly kidnapped while jogging on Sept. 2 and murdered.
Cleotha Henderson, who also has gone by the name Cleotha Abston, was arrested after police detected his DNA on a pair of sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen, an arrest affidavit showed.
He faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping with unlawful carrying or possession of a weapon.
Henderson served 20 years in prison for aggravated kidnapping.
According to Fox News, Henderson, 38, has been charged with an additional count of aggravated kidnapping and rape in an “unrelated” case.
A grand jury indicted him on the additional charges on Thursday, according to court records, the outlet reported.
A Memphis Police Department public information officer told Fox that its criminal investigative unit took a sexual assault report on Sept. 21, 2021, and a sexual assault kit was submitted to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Sept. 23, 2021.
The officer said a DNA hit on Henderson wasn’t confirmed until after Fletcher’s alleged kidnapping and murder which gave police probable cause to arrest him.
She added that probable cause to make “any” arrest didn’t exist until the DNA hit was received, Fox reported.
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