Police are warning residents in the Saint Louis and surrounding areas to be alert and proactive due to several reports of inappropriate behavior by adults around children at bus stops, including indecent exposure and several attempted abductions. Thankfully, no one has been hurt or kidnapped, but the frequency of the stories is frightening, to say the least.

In Ellisville Missouri, a 10-year-old girl is waiting for her school bus when a woman in a white mini-van approaches her several times attempting to lure the girl into the vehicle. She ran home to tell her mother what happened. The woman has not been identified or arrested.

The next day in Wentzville Missouri, a 20-year-old man, grabbed a 7-year-old girl, off the front porch of her house as she played. The attempted abduction witnessed by neighbors and the little girl’s mother. When several women gave chase, he released the girl, and police arrested him. He claims voices in his head told him to hurt the little girl.

Then a nine-year-old girl in Bridgeton Missouri told police a man in a white van tried to get her into his white van after grabbing her. She also escaped and ran home. The suspect is white and has a tattoo on his arm.

In addition, several women reported to O’Fallon Missouri police that a white man riding a bike exposed himself to them. One woman reported he touched her as she was jogging.

The Pagedale Police are praising a sixteen-year-old female who attends Normandy High School for her ability to fight off an attacker. A man grabbed her as she was walking to school along Saint Charles Rock road. The suspect is a black man with a baldhead.

In nearby Columbia Illinois, a white man grabbed an 11-year-old boy and tried to force him into a dark red colored mini-van. The boy broke free, and police have now released a sketch of the suspect.

All of these happened this month. What is going on in our world? It is truly frightening how brazen child predators are becoming. Parents need to educate children to play in back yards, and if allowed to walk to school to do so with a friend as there is a safety factor in numbers. Parents should visit their child’s bus stop before and after school to look for anyone or anything out of the ordinary.

Teach children to drop heavy book bags and to run as fast as they can in the opposite direction of a vehicle if approached. The means the driver has to turn the vehicle around in order to chase the child. Children run and yell danger. Try to get to a populated area and draw attention to yourself. The more people looking or hearing a child scream means the abductor will leave, as there are too many witnesses.

Always notify the police if someone is out of place in your neighborhood or if there is a suspicious vehicle near bus stops or schools. Police would prefer to come out for nothing than to be looking for a kidnapped child. Stay safe and alert.