Tuesday March 26, 2002 My 15 year old daughter while shoveling the snow, was approached by a black man in a mini van with heavily tinted windows.  He stopped in front of our driveway facing (West) the wrong way on Westcreek toward Oakburn.

He asked my daughter: "What's the name of the street over there?" (pointing to Oakburn) which is about 130' in front of him.

She Replied: "Oakburn"

He said: "Why aren't your brothers and sisters helping you with the driveway?"

She replied: "I don't have any."

He Asked: "Why isn't your dad helping you?" "Is he not at home?"

She Answered: "Yes, he's inside."

My husband wondered why she was taking so long, since she'd just gone out to walk the dog, so he went to the door and observed the man talking to our daughter.  When the man realized that my husband was at the door and had seen him, he drove off really fast.

At first, when we asked our daughter what she was speaking to the man about she just said he wanted directions. My husband felt something was not right and as he thought about it, he realised that if the man had wanted directions, he would have waited for my husband to come out and explain the directions.  When my husband asked my daughter exactly what was said, we realised that the man was not really asking for directions at all, but was more interested in personal information about my daughter and her security.  My husband called the police and filed a report.

Unfortunately, stopping children and asking them questions is not against the law.  So the police took the report and filed it.  They will not do anything unless several more similar instances occur or preferably a child is grabbed and manages to get away and file a complaint.

As you all can understand... I don't want to wait and find out that someone else's child was stolen, murdered, or harmed in anyway, because we didn't do anything.  If the police are not in a legal position to do anything, maybe we should collectively warn our children as a community, to be aware.

My daughter knows better... only two weeks ago, we had a talk about all the dangerous people out there.  We instructed her that if she were approached by anyone, especially in a vehicle, she was to not engage in any conversation and she was to move away from the person or vehicle and run in to the house... or away from them. So much for our advice....

Any suggestions on how to get the word out would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

Gwen