A quick-thinking bystander rescued a 13-year-old girl from an unknown fate after an unidentified man grabbed her off the sidewalk and pulled her into the forest.
The woman, identified only as "Kristy," told the Kansas City Star she was sitting at a stop sign in Riverside, Mo. at around 6:30 a.m. Monday when she spotted a man trailing behind the girl, who seemed to not notice she was being followed.
Kristy began having suspicions as she realized that the man, who was wearing a ski mask, was closing the gap between himself and the seventh grader.
After turning the corner and driving past the pair, she watched in her rearview mirror as the man grabbed the girl and began to pull her backwards into a wooded area between an apartment building and a cemetery. He had placed a gloved hand over her face, preventing her from screaming.
Kristy threw her car into reverse and sped backwards towards the man, screaming "Hey! Get out of here!" out of her window.
She said the would-be kidnapper hesitated briefly before letting the girl go and running away into the woods. Kristy called police and waited with the girl until they arrived.
“I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to do that when I just drove past them," Kristy told the Star.
Christina McCleary, the girl's mother, told KCTV 5 that her daughter was waiting for the bus when the attempted kidnapping occurred, but that she won't be waiting alone anymore.
"She's going to be scared until this guy is found," McClearly said.
Witnesses noticed a man walking out of woods later that morning, who raised the suspicions of a dog walker. When the dog walker tried to confront the man, he fled.
The suspect seen emerging from the woods has been described as Hispanic, in his 30s, 5-foot-8 and between 150-170 pounds, with a dark hair, dark eyes and a thin goatee, according to KSHB.
Anyone with information about the abduction is asked to call the Riverside Police Department at 816-741-1191.
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