Edmonton police have released photos of a suspect vehicle and a person of interest wanted in relation to a recent alleged child luring.
Officers responded around 8 p.m. on June 14, after two 14-year-old girls reported being approached and followed by a group of males in the city’s southwest.
Police say the girls were walking in the area of 18A Avenue S.W. and Rutherford Road S.W. when the suspects, who were in a grey Chrysler Pacifica van with heavily tinted windows, began shouting at them in an attempt to lure them into the vehicle.
The van was reported to have five to six males inside, around 30 to 40 years of age, and was driving erratically with the side door open.
Global News has also been contacted by the parents of one of the girls, whose concern escalated after the van drove past them, made a U-turn and began travelling back toward them again.
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The parents say the experience caused the girls to fear for their safety and they began “yelling for help.”
Fortunately, a woman who was walking nearby witnessed their distress and called 911 as the girls ran away and the vehicle “quickly” fled the area.
Due to the “fear and panic of the situation,” the parents say the girls were unable to provide a detailed description of the suspects.
The parents say that since the incident, the girls have been “extremely distressed and frightened” and they are “deeply concerned about the safety of children, girls and women in the community.”
The suspect van was last seen travelling northbound on Rutherford Road and later near James Mowatt Trail and 17 Avenue.
Despite obtaining CCTV images of the vehicle, the parents have been unable to identify a license plate number.
Police say a second vehicle, which was silver, may also have been involved. They have released a photo of ‘a person of interest’ who they believe was driving that vehicle in hopes someone may have information about his identity.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the vehicle, the person of interest or the suspects in the van to call them at 780-423-4567 or by dialling #377 from a mobile phone.
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