Boys’ kidnap story is a hoax

Michael Miller

Two students reported an abduction attempt near Paularino Elementary

School on Thursday, panicking parents for a day until the boys

admitted they made up the tale as a cover for tardiness. Thursday

morning, a pair of brothers arrived late at Paularino, telling

administrators that a man in a white car had accosted them on their

way to school and attempted to pull the older one into his car, said

Sgt. Marty Carver of the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Police and school officials did not release the boys’ names but

said that the older one, age 10, is a student at Davis Elementary,

while his younger brother, age 8, goes to Paularino.

School officials contacted police after hearing the boys’ story.

That afternoon, Paularino principal John Sanders sent all students

home with a letter for parents explaining what had happened and

offering tips on how to avoid abduction.

However, after interviewing the two students Thursday and Friday,

investigators determined that the story was a hoax.

“The kids admitted they falsified the whole thing,” Carver said.

“They were late for school because they missed the bus; one of them

had a test they missed.”

The boys reported they were walking down Baker Street near the

school Monday morning when a man pulled up in a Volkswagen and

offered them a ride, Carver said. The boys said that when they

refused the ride, the man grabbed the older brother by the shirt and

tried to wrestle him into the vehicle.

When police interviewed the two boys separately, however, their

story quickly unraveled. Carver said the older boy, who did most of

the talking at Paularino, was articulate in his description, while

his younger brother could not recall any specific details.

In addition, when police drove the older boy back to the alleged

crime scene, he told officers the man had torn one of the buttons off

his collar. While the boy’s collar was missing a button, Carver said

officers became suspicious when the student pinpointed the button’s

exact location on the ground.

Ultimately, Carver said, the officer in charge of the case called

him and reported that both boys had admitted making up the story. On

Friday afternoon, Sanders sent an additional letter home to parents

explaining the fabrication.

“I’m relieved to know that it did not happen,” Sanders said. “We

hold child safety as our number-one priority here.”

Friday morning, before school officials knew the truth of the

incident, teachers at Paularino held special discussions with their

students on safety.

“The positive spin to this was that it gave us an opportunity to

teach and reteach our students about stranger danger,” Sanders noted.

He said the schools were handling disciplinary measures with the

boys, who had not been charged with a crime.

Parents, upon receiving the second letter on Friday afternoon,

expressed gratitude at learning that the abduction attempt had not

taken place.

“We’re relieved and happy that the principal took such good care

of everything,” said Rena Smith, who has two children at Paularino.

“He got to the truth right away and handled the situation perfectly.”

She added that residents in the Paularino zone rarely feared

walking the streets.

“We are a very close neighborhood,” Smith said. “In fact, I know a

lot of the parents and I’m close to the teachers. I’m there quite a

bit.”

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education. He may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].