Child abduction by one of your relatives…

[Scrvoy]

Before I lay out my scenario let me preface this by stating that although I think about strange situations like this in my own mind I am new at sharing them in any type of open forum so please bare with me.

The scenario: you are driving through a town near yours but far away that no one is likely to know you or your family. You spot a male relative of yours that you may have wondered about in the past; just by the way he looks at children. This relative is leading a young girl (7 or 8 years old) to his car with a firm grip on her arm. You know he has no business with this child, or any child for that matter. From what you know about this relative you know that he will most likely destroy this child’s life if left to his own devices.

You approach him and confront him, but he tells you to mind your own business and cannot be talked down. For whatever reason you know that in a physical altercation he is going to come out on top, i.e. you are in poor health, he is bigger and stronger than you, he may be armed, and so on. Even if you call the police and he drives away with the child her life and innocence is in serious jeopardy. You have to act now and decisively if you are to save the girl.

Oh, and don’t think it could not happen, no one ever really knows the heart of anyone, even their relatives.

So the question is: what do you do?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[grady]

I'd call the police first. I wouldn't confront him. Why confront? If he's guilty, let the police handle it.

If I made a mistake in identifying him, oops. If I'm in some stranger's face and he's a child molester, he may be ready to kill rather than discuss anything.

I'd call the police. I'd remain in my vehicle. I'd follow the guy at a distance until the police stopped him. Doing so may even allow you to be an anonymous tipster, which may come in handy once scumbag gets out of jail. At that point your own family may be in jeopardy if he knows who you are and where you live. (Even if I have to i.d. myself, I will to put scum like this away.)

I see no value in confronting the guy, whether he's a relative or not. If I have a relative who's a child molester, I'm not going to try to talk him out of this one event (there will certainly be more later). I'd rather let the full force of the law come down on him, and hopefully he will be introduced to Bubba in prison.

[Rugergirl]

Very well said Grady.
Those of you who are parents have the responsibility to teach your children "Stranger Danger". If your school system doesn't offer a class, contact you local PD for references.

[bandit383]

Relative of yours? That would be like a bit close to home.

This is a no-brainer...get the tag, car discription, call 911. They would be all over it especially if labeled an abduction in progress.

Rick

[archer51]

Call 911 and report it. Give the police all the info you have available to you. Be advised too, you do not know for a fact the child is being abducted. Just like this relative doesn't know everything about you and who you know, the same is true with what you know about them. It could very well be a friend of his child. You put it into the police hands and let them handle it from there.

[JOHNSMITH]

I would say, follow at a distance and call 911.

[Tom G]

Call 911 and follow the relative while giving updates to the police. Confront the relative only if the child is in immediate danger or if the cops cannot intervene in time.

[HKinNY]

People see kids being dragged out of a toy store, candy store, video store screaming so it is possible to see a kid being grabbed up and not know it. I have taught my kids to say " You are stranger leave me alone. Help. I do not know you. Left me alone. over and over again until somebody helps. You better believe that if I heard a kid use those words, that kid is not going anywhere with that person until the LEO are there.

[Sportsterguy]

Call 911 and state AMBER ALERT. LEO's will convene like flies on crap.

[Maybejim]

Call 911 and follow the relative while giving updates to the police. Confront the relative only if the child is in immediate danger or if the cops cannot intervene in time.

I would agree but remember that I have called 911 about 6 times with the quickest I have talked to an actual person being about 6 minutes and the longest about 17 minutes. In other words don't count on 911. For my town I have the local police/sheriff's phone number programed into my cell phone so I can reach them without waiting for 911.

[Acecool]

Follow at a distance and call 911 - this is how most successful recoveries go about.