Police update: Detectives have not substantiated kidnapping claim of Sanger girl, 9
Sanger police said Friday they have not corroborated the alleged kidnapping attempt of a 9-year-old girl from the previous week.
The girl was reported to have briefly been abducted and then released about 1:45 p.m. Feb. 21 near John F. Kennedy Park on Faller and North avenues in Sanger, police said in an update to the incident.
The claims as of Friday were unsubstantiated, police said in a news release.
“Despite exhaustive efforts, no evidence corroborating that report has been located thus far,” police said Friday.
Detectives have not turned up evidence of a kidnapping in surveillance video nor have they found suspects of vehicles.
Officers will continue to look into the claims, police said, “as part of our commitment to a thorough and exhaustive investigation.”
Sanger police said last week that the girl told officers she was walking by herself from Jefferson Elementary School when a white van or SUV pulled alongside her. A man wearing a mask and dressed in all black snatched the child by the arm and pulled her inside the vehicle, according to previous reports from police.
The child was driven no more than two blocks before the kidnappers let her go and she ran home, police previously said.
The initial report from police said they were looking for a man and the driver, a woman described as having short hair and light skin.
The girl said she did not know the people who kidnapped her and did not have any information who they may be, police said.
Anyone with additional information, including surveillance footage in the area, was asked by police to contact Detective Shaela Edwards at 559-955-1751.
This story was originally published March 1, 2024 at 10:33 AM.
