Missing 5-Year-Old Girl Found Bound in Duct Tape at N.Y. Warehouse

AP ^ | April 25, 2004

[nuconvert]

Missing 5-Year-Old Girl Found Bound in Duct Tape at N.Y. Warehouse

Apr 25, 2004

The Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A 5-year-old girl was found bound in duct tape under a tarp at an abandoned warehouse Sunday, a day after she left home to visit a friend two blocks away. A potential buyer of the warehouse in suburban DeWitt found the girl after he heard her crying and looked under the tarp. She was reported in stable condition at University Hospital, and gave authorities a description of her abductor, whom police were searching for Sunday night.

Police would not say Sunday whether the girl had been abused.

The girl's mother told police her daughter left their Syracuse home at 6 p.m. Saturday to visit her friend. The mother called the friend's house to see if the girl arrived safely and called police when she learned she hadn't.

A child found the girl's scooter on a nearby storm grate half an hour after she left home.

A state police helicopter searched the area with an infrared camera, police and neighbors combed nearby Schiller Park and fire department divers searched for the girl in the storm drain where the scooter was found.

Authorities alerted nearby residents but did not issue an Amber Alert because the disappearance was not known to be an abduction.

Police were looking for a thin white or Hispanic man in his 40s. The suspect is balding and had a mustache, police said. Investigators believe the suspect kidnapped the girl in a white older model four-door vehicle with a dirty gray interior.

[Jeff Chandler]

A reminder to keep an eye on your kids.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Thank the Lord for this miracle.

[ValerieUSA]

What a miracle she was found alive!
Is this a stranger abduction, or is a family acquaintance suspected?

[Fifth Business]

Alas, the days are over when your five-year-old can venture outdoors unsupervised.

[The Mayor]

Thank God she is alive..

[nuconvert]

I don't know for sure. But from the description at the end, it sounds like a stranger.

[Dark Knight]

Thank the Lord she's alive! I don't have kids, but isn't 5 a little young to be going two blocks by herself?

DK

[The Mayor]

Yup!

[nuconvert]

That was my thought also.

[Windsong]

Thanks for letting us know about this crap. Our lives are so much brighter now.

[nuconvert]

?

[spunkets]

" ...isn't 5 a little young to be going two blocks by herself? "

Absolutely, especially at 6PM on a Sat. night.

[Pharmboy]

Father of five here...you are correct: 5 y/os should NEVER be allowed out unsupervised. My kids have to make 12 birthdays before they are allowed to walk to friends' houses by themselves.

[PGalt]

Good thinkin'...Great tagline.

[lizma]

Those days have been over for quite awhile. I'm surprised the mother hadn't realized it yet. When my kid was 5 I would watch her even when she was walking to the neighbors next door.

Thank God this women has a second chance. I have no doubt she'll be a tad more protective in the future.

[clee1]

Alas, the days are over when your five-year-old can venture outdoors unsupervised.

True, when you live in an urban jungle.

I highly recommend a rural setting if you have kids.

[netmilsmom]

And my hubby thinks I'm crazy for making statements like that.

[Pharmboy]

Thanks. We remain the only country to invade and leave--in the tradition of Gen. Washington (conquered and walked away).

[FITZ]

Once a 4 to 5 year old could walk several blocks to kindergarten ---- it was common but today it's crazy and neglectful to allow one out your sight.