Police said that they have questioned three men in relation to an incident where a 14-year-old girl was allegedly ordered to enter their vehicle while walking home from school with her friends but she refused to do so.
The incident reportedly took place between 1:30pm and 2pm on April 30. According to reports, the men were in a rented silver Toyota Vitz — registration R 5638 — when they pulled up alongside the group of teenagers.
The teenager’s father reported the incident to police the following day. He later expressed concern that authorities weren’t taking the matter seriously after officers failed to follow up as promised.
However, ACP Jeffers maintains that police acted swiftly. “The police actually pulled in the three guys,” he told Observer. “They also pulled in some other persons who were there. The person who owns the vehicle told the police who the men are. The three men were picked up.”
According to Jeffers, the investigation uncovered a different story than initially reported. “From what we have gathered, it was not that they were trying to pull the girl into the car,” he explained.
The men told police they had simply tried to start a conversation with the girls. “They saw the girls walking, wound down the window, and one of them said ‘Can I have your number?’” Jeffers recounted. “When they realized the girls were serious [about not being interested], they drove off.”
The investigation comes amid a spike in reported kidnapping attempts following a recent tragedy involving a nine-year-old girl who was found dead days after being abducted near her home.
“We’ve been having a number of them,” Jeffers revealed. “I can’t tell you how many we have already, but it’s almost like we have a certain amount per day.”
Despite the frequency of reports, Jeffers stressed that police take every complaint seriously, even when investigations reveal circumstances different from initial claims.
“We’re not treating them as false,” he said. “Even though when we check them out and see it’s not really tying up to what they’re saying, we told the people: if you see something, say something.”
