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November 1, 2004

Attempted Abduction of Deaf Student

From: WGRZ-TV - Buffalo,NY,USA - Nov 1, 2004

Posted by: Lynne Dixon, Reporter

A St. Mary's School For The Deaf student escaped possible abduction Monday morning while waiting for the bus. Police say the girl was waiting outside the family's west side home on Prospect when she was approached by a man who tried to get her in his car.

"From what I heard he put his arm around her and I don't know, she just ran to the back," said the girl's brother. "She couldn't really hear what he was saying because she's deaf." He says he screamed that she needed help. The brother, say police, ran outside and scared the suspect off.

"We came running out of the house," said the brother, "and he was a very shady looking person, jumped right into the car and took off."

The girl's father describes seeing a black toyota pickup with a black shell on it and it drove off.

Cheektowaga police were initially called, as well, because the suspect's description closely matched that of a suspect from a recent rape in the town. "In all likelihood we don't believe it's going to be the same individual, but as I said, we're not totally disregarding it at this time, either," said Captain James Morath with the Cheektowaga Police Department.

The suspect in Monday's attempted abduction is described as a white male with long brown hair in a ponytail, a long goatee, and wearing all black clothes.

The girl is fine and proceeded on to school where officials at St. Mary's School For The Deaf then alerted police.

Copyright © 2004 by WGRZ-TV Buffalo.