MovieChat Forums > The Elizabeth Smart Story (2003) Discussion > Anyone been kidnapped, ALMOST kidnapped,...

Anyone been kidnapped, ALMOST kidnapped, or know someone who was?

posted 19 years ago by courtneyleigh
32 replies | jump to latest

I was almost kidnapped

My cousin(who was about 10 at the time) and myself (who was about 12) were swimming in a pool at a hotel at my uncle's party. My parents figured I was old enough to stay alone in the pool with my cousin and brother. While me and my cousin were swimming I noticed this old scary looking man staring at us from the whirlpool. I thought at first that he was just a lonely guy that wanted kids or that we reminded him of someone. Then I just got this horrible feeling and felt like we should leave right then, but I knew I shouldn't walk alone down the hallways where it was even more isolated. He then came out of the hot tub and went into the pool and started swimming up to us smiling and keeping eye contact. My cousin and brother didn't relize this man's weird behavior so I called them over to me accidentally saying my cousin's name outloud. I overheard him whisper her name to himself with pleasure. I told them I was cold and wanted to go into the hot tub. We all three got in the hot tub and I mentioned that this man was creeping me out. The man then came out of the pool and came over and sat in a chair next to the hot tub. My cousin and brother got out right away and while I was about to leave he kept looking at me and saying weird things like "they should make half a nickel!" I went to join my cousins by our towels and we just waited for a bit. Then the man left and we were thinking about leaving, but thought he might be waiting for us or something. My brother left to go get my uncle. While my cousin and I were waiting for them to get back the man came back, but he wasn't alone. The elevator was right across from the pool door and we saw him get off the elevator and his friend holding it open and looking around to see if the cost was clear. The man walked into the pool room and was walking right up to us with an aggressive look on his face. Right then my uncle walked in and said "Girls, it is time to go NOW!" The man jumped and quickly turned around and headed back to the door to a vending machine that he had passed on his way to us.

[–] Belletrist0 19 years ago

When my mom was about twelve, she was walking down a street when she was approached by an older man, who used the typical, "Won't you come and see my puppy?" bait to try to lure her away. Having common sense and sensing that something was not right, she refused to go with him, citing a made-up story of having to meet up with her sister. However, he man presisted, and seemed ready to use force. My mother had the presence of mind to point to a strange woman walking towards them and said, "There is my sister. I must go now." She hurried off to the woman, and the man left her alone.

--------------
Everyone dies but not everyone gets to live.

[–] dreamer918 19 years ago

i dont konw if this would count or not it happend when i was around 11 or 12 also and my cuzin was 8 or 9 we walked across my grandma's house to a park that we always went to there was no one at the park and when we were crossin the parking lot i noticed this car pull in and its just parked there i didnt pay any attention to it so me and my cousin were playin in the park for about an hour or so and that car was still parked there and i saw a lady in it alone just sittin staring so i told my cousin i wanted to go back now so we stared walkin back and the lady stared the car and started driving so i told my cuzin to walk slow but the car just went slow to and when we got the the curb it stopped in front of us and i noticed that her car was full of cloths and junk and she just smiled at us and asked if we could help her clip her necklace i just looked at her like she was weird so my cuzin went and did it for her really fast but then at the same time my grandma, uncle and dad came outside and saw us and saw my cuzin goin toward the car and they yell for us to get home and the lady looked and said thanks and just left...then we ran back home and my dad asked us what we were doin an i told him and he got a lil mad and told us we arent suppose to be going near strangers cars...i never really thought she was tryin to take us or nething back then but now im 17 and i think it was a little weird lookin back.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] googlyeyes1989 18 years ago

Several years ago there was this girl that I went to school with who was almost kidnapped, but they wouldn't say much in the newspaper about it for her privacy. Anyway, from what I understand this guy shoved her in his car (but hadn't shut the door yet), she tried to get out and he put her in a headlock. Since she couldn't see anything because her head was facing his stomach, she impulsively bit him as hard as she could on his stomach and he was so startled he let go just long enough for her to get away.

[–] frozendarkness 18 years ago

I went to school with Elizabeth when she was kidnapped. They called an assembly the day it happened to inform us all about it.

That's the closest I've been to a kidnapping, though.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TombRaider2523 18 years ago

A few years ago, July 9, I remember the date because I went to the local movie theater and saw Pirates of the Caribbean. Anyway, after seeing the movie I called my Dad to tell him I was coming home. He was working and unable to pick me up so he called a local cab service. I was still on the phone with him as I got into the cab and I commented to him I wasn't really comfortable with the driver of the vehicle and he told me that if I got too uncomfortable then to ask to be let out and he would come get me. I stayed on the phone for several more minutes, we had pulled out of the parking lot of the theater and I commented again I felt uncomfortable. I don't know *why* I was so uncomfortable, I just was. My Dad asked to speak to the cab driver and the guy, his name was William (the driver) spoke to him. He was really nasty. When the phone was handed back to me my Dad said to tell the driver I wanted out, and so I did. William wouldn't even stop, let alone let me out. Finally after several minutes of telling him I wanted out, he finally stopped, but he still wouldn't let me out. (The door handles were broken off in the inside so people couldn't jump out of a moving vehicle). I was still on the phone with my Dad and he said pay him the money for the cab ride, so I did. The man still wouldn't let me out, but did park the car. It was like ten minutes before I was let out of the car, but I was terrified, so was my Dad.

Anyway, I had to walk all the way back to the theater and wait for my Dad to pick me up. My Dad was pissed that night. He called the cab service and asked for the name of the driver and everything. The cab service was scared, I know, that my Dad would call the cops. He never did, but he has commented that he wishes he had. I don't know if my experience would constitute as a 'kidnapping' but that's what my Dad called it.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Repairmanmanmanmanmanman 18 years ago

My cousin was abducted by an man early in the `90s when he was 10. Apparently, he was approached by the guy in the park during the summer, and the man offered to take him to see a minor league baseball game nearby. According to my cousin, when he got in his car, the man didn't drive to the stadium, but went down some road he hadn't seen before and pulled over in a parking lot. He tried to blow the horn of the car, and somehow managed to get out and went to a restaurant and stayed there until he could contact his mom.

[–] bardoodles-1 18 years ago

wen i was like 4 or 5 i went to a curtain store with my parents. i was a hyper little kid and ran around all over the place. then some guy picked me up. i thought i was my dad--till my dad saw the guy and kicked him.

[–] Peacelove_isback 18 years ago

When my cousins were 2&3, and had just been adopted, they were going to a SUPERVISED visit with their bith mom. She told the supervisors that she was taking them down stairs to get some toys. But she left with them. She dropped the boy off at her aunts house and took the little girl and drove off to mexico.

But they weren't filthy rich, so of course they didn't get the amount of attentiong Elizbeth Smart did. Actually, they weren't on the news at all which to this day still pisses me off, even though it was about 12 years ago.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Red_Rose1359 17 years ago

k, i got three, funny huh?

a few days after elizabeth smart was found, this local news station, dont remember the channel, had a report on how many kids would go off with strangers. so they gathered 100 volunteers or cops and they each asked one kid - with their parent's permission - if they would help them find their dog. and guess what, 97 kids agreed to. that was amazing to me. yet, me being a kid, i would have maybe, too.

i dont know if this counts - one halloween when i was about 5, some lady mistaked me for her own kid when we were leaving a busy house and i followed her for about two houses and then we finally noticed that she wasnt my mom and i wasnt her kid. haha, i didnt look up much when i was young.

finally, we lived across the street from a duck pond/park and everyday there was a man in a red truck with the trunk full of bread to feed the ducks. my sister, friend and i were there one day ( we were around the ages of 7-9 or something ) so he starts talking to us and asking us where we live and if we come here often, and stupid little me starts answering his questions, when my sister and friend starts nudging me and whispering me to stop, but of course i keep on talking. and he offers us some bread to feed the ducks and packaged cookies for us to eat. i am the only one that takes both of them. we still talk and feed the ducks when finally my sister pulls me away and says that we have to go. when we were at home, they yelled at me, but he was very nice. haha but i still dont think he was MEANING to take us or anything. i think.

[–] becca_xo 16 years ago

HAHAH when i was likke 9 a man asdked me to help him find his dog and i agreed. though he was actually telling the truth because we found his dog and he thanked me and left.
lol

BECCA !
www.myspace.com/beccagillxox

[–] Friendsfanitic 17 years ago

Well, I am not sure if this counts but.. I was like 4 and I was at a grocery store and this really sketchy guy came up to me and used the typical pick up line "Hey little girl, want some candy?" I was a smart kid, luckily and said no thank you and ran really fast to go find my mom. But Ohmigod that was so scary!
"They just give you candy, just like that, no strings attached?"- Fez

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] al_1978 16 years ago

Ooh, its almost as if most these stories could have been written by the same person isnt it...?

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Selfish-7 14 years ago

that came across my mind aswell

[–] becca_xo 16 years ago

im 15 and ive almost been kidnapped twice

FIRST TIME WHEN I WAS 3
My family and I were walking down a pier on a beach in our hometown and i was three. we bought icecream and me and my brothers were infront of my parents and we were just walking. we walked past an old LADY who was obviously drunk and she just ran over to me and picked me up and started running away. i was screaming like a banshee and my dad ran after us and tackled the lady to the ground and picked me up without a word and we all went home. i still have memories of it even though i was only 3

SECOND TIME WHEN I WAS 12
okay so this was three years ago. i used to watch americas most wanted all the time so i was a paranoid person lol. i was walking my two dogs by my old school on a saturday by myself. i noticed a red van pass by with a woman and a man inside. me being paranoid, i got an instant feeling of fear. but i ignored it and kept walking. when the van passed me by i was watching it drive down the street. when it got to the end of the street it did a U-turn and drove back down the street. this time i thought "maybe theyre just lost". so i continued with my dogs and when they drove past me again i saw they were both looking at me. FREAKED ME RIGHT OUT. but i thought mayeb they needed directions. well they did another U-turn and they were driving by me for the THIRD time. then i thought "if they needed directions they would have asked me already." when they drove past me they swirved into a driveway right infront me me. i stopped walking and just looked at them. the man got out of the car and started walking toward me (now this could have been innocent i'll never know for sure. but he looked aggressive just like the OP mentioned...) so i got scared and started running toward my old school. the man ran back to his car and then they followed me (they drove into the parking lot of the school) i knew they were waiting for me to come out because they kept circling the parking lot for like 5 minutes. in that time i climbed a tree (WHILE HOLDING MY TWO DOGS LMFAO) and i got my cellphone out and called my mom. she came to the school in her car and parked it. she walked over to the tree where i was and i hugged her and we walked back to our car. as soon as they saw me with my mom they sped off.

BECCA !
www.myspace.com/beccagillxox

[–] sean558-1 16 years ago

youve been through a lot. lol

[–] Crazy_For_Flowers 16 years ago

sister=
See i told you if you tell your personal info online people will try to rob you

It's time to ROCK AND ROLL!!!

[–] DianneBellmont 15 years ago

I could tell you lots of stories, but everything turned out alright...
but there is an actress named Jan Broberg who had a similar experience when she was a teen. Years later, she gave a talk on her awful experience. She'a a really kind person, not the least bit rude. It's sad that someone would do this. Anyway, she got away from her abuser-kidnapper. Not everyone is so fortunate.

*The shape-shifter is in and will take your calls now.

[–] kab986 15 years ago

I WAS KIDNAPPED and held in MEXICO for a MONTH. i was 13, it was 2000, and my then-11 year old sister was taken with me as well.

i understand elizabeth in a way most of you never will... we're both lucky.

not that those "almost" kidnapped didn't suffer, but it's not even comparable to it actually happening. you can't imagine it no matter how hard you may try.

[–] The_Devil_Incarnate 14 years ago

So not only kab986 are you a cousin of the late President John F. Kennedy, but you were alos kidnapped and held in Mexico for a month? Good one, lol, really.