Arizona-based mom Brenda James and her daughter Maddison Raines opened up toGood Morning AmericaTuesday about the incident that transpired last week, when Maddison and a friend were walking near a park and a stranger approached the duo in a white SUV.
According to the little girl, the man shielded his face while telling Maddison that her brother had “been in a serious accident” and he had been instructed to come pick her up. Maddison immediately asked himwhat the family’s code wordwas.
When the stranger didn’t know the answer, he blanked and immediately drove away, prompting Maddison to run home immediately and tell her grandmother what had happened.
“He just kind of froze, his face. And drove off,” the fifth-grader toldGMA, adding, “I was scared because if I would’ve hopped in, I didn’t know what he would do to me.”
James toldGMAthe family had recently launched the use of a code word to use in dangerous situations, explaining, “[Maddison] can show other kids it’s okay to ask that question and not everyone’s your friend. I thinkkids respond more to kids thanthey do adults, and they can understand they can be brave and smart and run.”
Brenda James.
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“They know who can pick them up and who can’t,” James, who also opened up in a press conference about the incident, toldGMAof her kids. “But there’s always that special situation where there might be somebody they don’t know or don’t know well, so that’s why we came up with a code word.”
The PCSO post described the suspect as “a white male, possibly in his 40s, with a short beard,” with the vehicle being “possibly similar to a Ford Explorer.”
“Children in the neighborhood say they have seen that SUV in the neighborhood, circling the park several times a day,” the post continued, asking anyone with information to call PCSO at (520) 866-5111.
source: people.com
