A Texas mom is warning other parents to keep a close eye on their children after she says someone attempted to abduct a group of boys from her home. Genna Skolnik was at her home in Dallas on August 12 when a man allegedly approached her sons and some friends in her front yard and tried to lure them to his car. Ring camera footage captured the kids running to Skolnik's home, yelling for help.
The concerned mom went outside and took a photo of the car's license plate before the driver took off. Skolnik shared the footage with WFAA, hoping to raise awareness in the area and to remind parents to keep their eyes open.
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The incident occurred in the middle of the day.
A driver in a white SUV approached the group of kids and asked them to look at something in his car, according to WFAA. The boys were immediately uncomfortable and ran. They can be heard on video footage yelling, "Someone's trying to kidnap him!"
The mom ran to see what was going on.
"All of a sudden, the door flies open and I hear the boys yelling," Skolnik said.
The video captures a man chasing one of the boys as Skolnik appears on the porch. The man runs out of sight, but she is able to capture a clear image of his license plate before he takes off in the vehicle.
The incident scared the kids.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Skolnik's sons, Johnathan and Zachary, shared their frightening story.
"We get onto the sidewalk, and we try to skip past, and I hear the driver's telling my friends to get into their car," Zachary said.
Jonathan added, "He said, 'There's a football in the back of the car.' And then, we should get in the back of the car. Then I said, 'I'm sorry. I don't talk to strangers and I ran away.'"
It appears the driver was a minor.
WFAA reported that Dallas detectives identified the individuals involved, and they were minors. Police do not believe there is a threat to the public, and no arrests have been made. They did say the investigation is ongoing.
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The school district warned parents.
Another seemingly unrelated incident occurred in the Richardson Independent School district the same day. A driver allegedly followed a high school student on her way to school. The district assured parents it would increase security measures in and around school.
"District safety and security staff will have an increased presence in the PHS area at dismissal [Tuesday] and over the next several days," Richardson ISD explained in a statement shared with WFAA.
Children need to be aware.
Callahan Walsh, executive director of the Florida office of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, shared with Good Morning America the importance of teaching kids to be safe.
"Children should be very wary of strangers that are in a car approaching them. We know that the vast majority of attempted abductions and successful abductions use a vehicle," he said. "We know that the perpetrators are using the same lures, like asking for directions, looking for a lost puppy, or having candy. And so, parents need to be talking to their children about identifying these risky situations and knowing how to avoid them."
