SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. (WSVN) – A man who tried luring an 11-year-old girl into his car in Arizona Wednesday drove off after she asked about a “code word.”
Pinal County sheriffs responding to a home in the North Pecan Creek neighborhood around 3:45 p.m. learned that a man driving a white SUV pulled up to the young girl and told her that her brothers were in a serious accident and she needed to go with him, the sheriff’s office said.
The child asked the man what the “code word’ was but he did not know it, so he drove off.
“This one time, it saved my daughter’s life,” said the girl’s mother, Brenda James. “We actually just came up with it a few months ago. So it was something real recent from a story that I read.”
Sheriff Mark Lamb hopes that this situation can serve as a warning and example of the dangers out there.
“This just reminds us that it’s not just online, but you also need to be cognizant of when your children are out in public or in parks,” Lamb said.
Children in the neighborhood told deputies that they have seen the same SUV circling the park several times a day.
The suspect is described as a white male, possibly in his 40s, with a short beard. Police continue to investigate.
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