DINWIDDIE, Va. (WRIC) — The Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a suspect after reports of two attempted child abductions in the county.
The most recent report involved a 12-year-old boy who says a man approached him on Colemans Lake Road on Wednesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. The child says he was walking a short distance to a family member’s home, when a man, driving a black four door sedan approached him and asked the child to get into the vehicle.
The 12-year-old boy said the suspect said he wanted to give him a ride to a relative’s home, but the child ran away and alerted his family.
Deputies say a similar situation occurred on November 10th involving a 15-year-old girl on Flatfoot Road. Deputies say in that case, the suspect held the girl by her hair and tried to drag her into a vehicle, but the child was able to get away.
“Neighborhoods that seem safe and it’s a normal practice for them to go from this house to the next or from a friend’s house to home, maybe change your routine up a little bit,” says Major William Knott with the Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s office. “We don’t want to create a panic but we want people to be vigilant and be proactive.”
Wednesday night, after the most recent report of an attempted abduction, the sheriff’s office made 7,000 reverse calls and sent 3,000 emails to residents in the county, warning them to look out for a suspect.
The school system has also asked teachers to remind students to be careful. School bus drivers are also reminding students to take extra steps to be safe.
Anyone with information on who this suspect might be, should call the Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office at 804-469-4550 or contact the Petersburg / Dinwiddie Crime Solvers line at 804-861-1212.
