Suspect, vehicle wanted in alleged Parker attempted kidnapping

DENVER ( KDVR ) — Several schools in Parker were on secure status Wednesday morning after a possible attempted abduction.

Douglas County School District sent messages to parents and guardians with students at Frontier Valley Elementary School, Pioneer Elementary School, Iron Horse Elementary School, Cimarron Middle School and Legend High School that each building was on secure status.

The Parker Police Department said officers were looking for a vehicle that was involved in a potential abduction. It is described as a black Audi 4-door sedan with dark windows, a roof rack and a Colorado license plate.

The suspect was described as a white man around the age of 50 with graying hair and a mustache.

A Frontier Valley Elementary School student told a staff member that the suspect approached and began talking to them. Police said the student was unharmed and ran to the school to report the incident.

Word spread quickly among families with students at the school.

“Well, my daughter called me that she’d heard about it just to let me know and it’s very frightening. Extremely frightening,” said grandmother Mary Sapp.

Another school in Cherry Creek came under fire three weeks ago when it failed to go on secure status after a sex offender allegedly tried to kidnap a child. Ultimately, the incident ended with the district ousting the principal.

Five Douglas County Schools, however, acted swiftly on Wednesday morning.

All five schools were taken off of secure status at around 11:30 a.m. The status lasted for two hours. Officers said they completed the search of the surrounding area and did not find the suspect or a vehicle.

“I hate to make it sound like it’s a knee-jerk reaction but unfortunately with these types of situations we have to make sure the best interest of our children are being looked after and that we are taking care of our kiddos,” law enforcement analyst James Allbee told FOX31’s Vicente Arenas.

Sapp said she was glad the alerts went out quickly.

“The safety of our children is most important,” Sapp said.

The school district is providing information parents can share with their students about stranger danger:

• Strangers are anyone that you do not know, even if you have seen a person before or recognize them from school or community.
• Strangers may be nicely or shabbily dressed
• Strangers may be walking, or in vehicles, on a bicycle, on the playground, or on our street
• Strangers look for ways to identify and call us by name (a nametag, name on a backpack or other personal article) so that we are more comfortable being approached
• Strangers may ask for help (directions, use your cell phone, car trouble). Strangers may offer an incentive to come close (candy, a puppy in the car)

If approached by a stranger, students should:

• Run toward an occupied house of someone you know or a building (like the school)
• Yell as loudly as you can
• Remember details about the person and car (license plate numbers), bike, etc.

The investigation is ongoing and officers are working on all leads. Anyone with information is asked to call the Parker Police Department.

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