8-Year-Old Boy Escapes From Would-Be Kidnapper In Dunedin

DUNEDIN, FL - Pinellas County detectives are searching for a man who attempted to abduct an 8-year-old boy walking from his bus stop in Dunedin on Friday afternoon. A man approached the boy as he was walking on Colony Drive about 3 p.m.

The sheriff's office reports that a man riding in an SUV told the boy, "I work with your dad and he wants me to pick you up." The boy kept walking northbound on Colony Drive because he did not recognize the man, deputies said. When the man got out of the vehicle, the boy started running. When the boy got home, he told his parents. The parents notified the sheriff's office. The boy was not harmed, deputies said.

Deputies describe the man as a white or Hispanic male between the ages of 30 and 40 with an athletic build. He is tall and thin with dark brown hair that is short on top and buzzed on the sides, with a short mustache. Deputies said his complexion is dark with marks on his cheeks that are possibly freckles.

The man was wearing dark-rimmed sunglasses and a light blue, short-sleeve collared shirt.
His vehicle is described as a small, silver or gray four-door SUV.

The boy says he last saw the SUV headed eastbound on Chadsworth Drive.

Anyone with information is asked contact the Crimes Against Children Unit Detective J. McGonigle 727-582-6566 or by email jmcgoniglejr@pcsonet.com.

Image via Pinellas County Sheriff