A father from Murrieta, California, is warning parents about child kidnapping after a man tried to abduct his 10-year-old daughter outside of their home. Michael Angodung shared that the incident happened May 21 while he was playing volleyball with his daughter and made a quick trip inside to get some water. The incident was captured on video and showed a man approaching his daughter from the sidewalk asking a question about her shirt, then proceeding to chase her down the driveway.
Thankfully, his daughter made it inside the house and safely away from the man. Still, the attempted kidnapping has affected both her and her father. Sadly, this is all too common an occurrence. In the United States, 2,300 children are reported missing each day, per Safe At Last.
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‘As a father, as a parent, this is literally your worst nightmare,’ the father says.
Michael Angodung was simply playing volleyball on the driveway with his 10-year-old daughter, Kassidy, when the unthinkable happened. The father briefly went inside their home to get water and his daughter stayed outside when a strange man approached her saying he wanted to "see her shirt," according to NECN. The incident, including audio, was picked up on a security camera.
When the man began talking to her, Kassidy ran up the driveway, screaming as he tried to chase her up the driveway before leaving. Angodung called the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, but the man was gone.
“As a father, as a parent, this is literally your worst nightmare,” he said, per NECN.
His daughter is physically OK but has suffered trauma from the event.
Fortunately, Kassidy was not kidnapped that day and made it safely inside her home, but the terrifying experience has understandably still been scarring. Her father said she has had trouble sleeping and no longer bikes or walks to school, per NECN. He added he was proud of how she handled herself and doesn't want other parents to go through this.
"I'm mad. I'm furious, I don't want any parent to go through this sort of trauma or any kid to undergo this trauma again, and I just want to make sure this guy is caught,” he shared, according to NECN.
Although nonfamily kidnappings are considered less common, many children go missing each year.
About 8 million children are reported missing each year worldwide, and the US accounts for 800,000 missing child cases each year, per Safe at Last. Of these, fewer than 1% of missing children are abducted by strangers, with most cases involving child runaways or abduction by a related family member. When it comes to nonfamily child abductions, however, 71% of them happen outdoors, the site reported, and involve the kidnappers following children to or from school, in the streets, or at parks.
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Preventing child abduction requires constant awareness and supervision.
This frightening story sadly highlights the reality of how quickly a child abduction or kidnapping can take place, even near your own home. Preventing this nightmare from happening means having discussions with your children about stranger danger, including instructing them to never get in the car or to walk away with someone they don’t know no matter what that person offer them or says.
Kids Health advises to avoid posting identifying information of your kids online and to always supervise them in public spaces such as malls, parks, bathrooms, or movie theaters. In addition, never leave them alone in a car or stroller, even for a minute.
