MovieChat Forums > Human Trafficking (2005) Discussion > My TRUE Near Kidnapping Story

My TRUE Near Kidnapping Story


I caught this movie on TV just yesterday and today, and it brought back some memories when I was young. Hopefully what I am about to share will in some way help to save the live of a child somewhere, someday.

It all happened when I was still living in Malaysia. I was about 7 years old. In those days, I used to take the bus to school. Every now and then though, my parents would either give me a ride to school, or back.

One day, after school was finished, I exited the main gate toward my waiting schoolbus. A car was waiting near the main gate to my left. Standing next to the car was a couple, a man and a woman who looked like somewhere in their mid-to-late twenties. They were looking in my direction, and beckoned me to go to them. I stopped and stood rooted to the spot dumbfounded. There was a little distance between me and the couple. For a moment there I thought maybe they were gesturing to another schoolmate, but I knew they were addressing me. I still remember the woman, who did most of the talking, saying that they were my mother's friends, and that my mother could not come to pick me up, and had asked them to help.

Now if there was one thing I know was this. My mother had told me never to trust strangers, and that if my mother had asked anyone to pick me up, she would have told me beforehand. She never broke the pattern throughout the years of my growing up.

Besides, I had a good photographic memory. That couple I definitely did not recognize, and I had never seen them before with my mother. So at the moment, it was either the couple, or the bus. I remember I hesitated, and told them something along the lines of "never mind, I'll take the bus", and ran straight into my schoolbus.

When I reached home, I asked my mother about the couple, and she was like, "What couple?" I told her about what happened, and she was shocked because she had never sent anyone to collect me, and reminded me about what she had told me about strangers and what not.

So there you go. That one moment in my life, had I chosen wrongly, may have totally altered my destiny. Granted, maybe the couple was genuine and just got the wrong child. But that does not totally eliminate the possibility that they could have been potential child kidnappers as well, given that Thailand is just across the border (which needs no elaboration)! Or maybe even a desperate childless couple hoping to get their hands on someone else's child!

Hope the parents who are reading this realize that a little advice from parent to child can go a long way, and could spell the difference between waking up every morning knowing that your kid is still around, or a permanent empty room!

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Thank G-d you made the right choice.

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Thanks for sharing that Sykle

Rubes1 - why would you put a dash in the name of God? Has our "politically correct" society stooped so low that the word "God" is now considered profanity?

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adoptivma-1,

The word is written G-d not because of political correctness, but out of religious beliefs. Many Jewish people, (like my roommate) believe that by writing "God" they make that media holy, and they do not want to see that media desicrated. For example, they don't write "God" on a piece of paper, less it be burned or destroyed. Thus, "G-d" is a representation of a holy name, but is not itself holy.

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Forgive my ignorance, but to non Christians call God by the word God?

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Thanx for sharing your story. I too have a small one of my own:

I was maybe 13 or 14, I live in Tennesee and have my whole life. I was at the local mall with my mother. We did the usual routine, we set a time and place in the mall to meet and I was off into teen shopping land! Woohoo!

Anyhoo at some point during my shopping I noticed a stocky, young, clean shaven, late 30's male (my memory is kinda fuzzy, but can still picture him, I'm 25 now), anyhow he was leaning over the edges of the balcony overlooking the local food court and as I went to pass by he said something to me, I can't remember exactly what but he beckoned me to him and I was dumbfounded and stopped, I didn't move, so he walked over to me.

I remember he started off by asking me how old I was, "Really? You don't look that young, you look 16! Doesn't she look 16? (He beckoned to his partner, whom I didn't look at so have no clue what he looked like, anyhoo) and he proceeded to tell me he was in the photography business and wanted to know if I was interested in modeling. I had never had anyone ask me anything along these lines so I just kind of spent the whole time stuttering and was embarassed.

Then he put his arm around my shoulders and slowly started walking. I felt myself get hot and break out in a sweat and falling into step with him. I remember he said that he had some of the photos and his camera in his car if I would like to come check them out. At that point I just felt "wrong" and got a lump in my throat and remembered thinking "Why am I scared?" He still had his arm around me and his partner was walking ahead of us and the dude with his arm around me kept looking around. I remember thinking that my mom was going to be so mad at me if she sees me talking to this person and I just got freaked out, stopped walking and looked around and the mall seemed so empty, I could see people but no one was paying attention and I was looking for my mom to come walking up. And the dude was like, "Are you coming or not?" And I remember thinking that I didn't want to seem rude and insult him, but told him I had to ask my mother first and she was on her way to meet me any minute. At this point he just kind of backed off and disappeared with his partner and I just stood there drenched in a cold sweat and shaking. I could still feel the weight of his arm across my shoulders even though it was gone.

I met my mom as planned a few minutes later and she asked if anything was wrong, I lied and said no. The event always stuck with me though and I kind of shoved it to the back of my mind. Sometimes I wonder if I was just over-reacting or something almost happend to me. It's wild to think about. Sorry for the long story, it's the first time I've spoken about it.

I'm glad you turned out safe as well.

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Thanks for sharing your story. I don't think you were over-reacting. I am not a model nor a photographer, so I am no expert in this. But I would think anyone (two grown males especially) in the photography business, more so those who deal with models, would know something called parent/guardian consent, especially when dealing with potential underage models. There's that other thing called liability as well.

Anyway, your experience was just plain creepy. I am glad you paid attention to that "wrong" feeling and lump in your throat and that voice in your head. Some people say it's your guardian angel trying to tell you something. Some say it's your sixth sense. Whatever it is, over the years of my growing up, I have learned to listen to that little voice when in doubt. That voice played an important role in helping me through a near-death experience when I was 18, but that's another story unrelated to the topic at hand. It's just good to know that you turned out safe as well.

This is the first time I have actually put my experience in writing. Like you, I never forgot what happened, and probably never will. After all, it is a life-changing experience, and a split second decision that could have gone either way, for good or for worse. When I think back sometimes, I can't help but wonder what happened after I left. Did the couple leave? Did another child, God forbid, fall prey to the couple? I don't know. I never saw the couple again.

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[deleted]

I had something similar happen to me and also didn't tell my parents...

I was 11 and was in the grocery store with my mom and dad killing time because my older brother was in student council and they were having some event.

I had wandered off the look at a Lisa Frank display (remember Lisa Frank?). I still remember the theme "Cleo-Catra" it was a cat dressed up like Cleopatra. While I was looking I felt someone caress my butt and I looked up and it was this guy who had been wandering the store (early-to-mid 20s, hispanic, longish hair) and as he went up the aisle he said "Come here" and motioned to me. I mumbled "later" and went off the find my mom and stuck close to her.

The guy basically followed us around the store for a bit grabbing a pack of toilet paper and disappeared.

A bit later I saw a store employee replace the toiler paper.

Then when we were in the car I heard my parents talking and my dad saying that he got arrested after trying to pick up a 5-year-old boy in the store.

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This happend to my sister

She was at a department store with her 2 year old daughter safetly strapped in her stroller (she had a stroller with 2 straps). The baby was sleep, and my sister was just walking around.

A woman got in her way, asking her if she knew where some store was located. It took my sister no more than a minute to give her the explanation and when she looked at the stroller, my niece was gone! It was horrible, she started shouting for someone to help her, that her daughter was missing, and people just stood there...

Finally this other woman heard her, she asked my sister for a desciption and what color of shoes my niece had on. Thankfully the woman and her 2 fiends helped my sister and they found my niece without her clothes (just diaper and shoes), still half asleep in one of the department store's fittingrooms.

We report the incident imediately to the authorities and they told us the kidnappers where most likely following her and that the woman that distracted probably worked for them. We never knew if they got them.

Like most of you... we just thank God for the good women that helped my sister and that they were able to find my niece safe.

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WOW!!!!!
your sister is so LUCKY to have found her
oh that is shocking!!!

the only thing that ever happened to me was when I was 14
I was in Paris on a one-day school trip (I'm from the Netherlands and we had Frensh class for a few years then) and me and my classmates were in the metro
and this guy was standing behind me and the metro shooked a lot
and when the guy stepped out of the metro he said
mercy mademoiselle, tu est très bonne
the frensh words meant: thank you girl, you are very nice /good
(oohhh I remember those words in disgust)
I looked at one of my classmates and we were utterly shocked

probably he had been riding the metro in a different kind of way!!! (uuuggg:-$)

well but this was just disgusting not the kidnapping kind
my mother always told me that no-one would ever pick me up that I don't know
and if anyone would be bothering me, she told me to ring the nearest doorbell, to sort of claim that that's my home and if he wouldn't leave then the people who lived there would probably help me if I asked them for help
and she told me to NEVERRRRR step in someones car!!!(that I didn't know)

a good example was once that me and my sister were at balletclass (I was about 6 or 7) and my cousin (male) who lived in France came to pick us up (walking) and I didn't want to come untill my sister said who he was (she did recognise him, I totally didn't remember)

well anyway I was on this forum because of the movie
I was really impressed by it and my boyfriend was ashamed to be a man
but I just don't know what to do about this
how could this be stopped???



*Holds up poster in glittery sparkle pen*
¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø PAUL AND IRENE!!! ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤

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"I had wandered off the look at a Lisa Frank display (remember Lisa Frank?). I still remember the theme "Cleo-Catra" it was a cat dressed up like Cleopatra."

Hell yes I remember Lisa Frank and Cleo-Catra! And of course, glad you were safe...:)

"I don't want to make money. I just want to be wonderful."

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You UNDER-reacted. Never ever let someone you do not know touch you, or lead you ANYWHERE!!!!

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ANOTHER TRUE STORY:

Wow something very similar happened to me when I was 10. I was standing outside of a clothing store waiting for my mother. I hated shopping at the time and would often beg her to let me stand outside so I could watch people as they passed by. All of a sudden a car sped up to the sidewalk where I as standing. The window was rolled down. I could see that there was a woman driving. There was a man in the car with her. She began to shout and gesture at me to get in the car. I turned around to see if she was talking to someone else but there was no one there but me. I shook my head no and she repeated her request. Then the man in the car with her started to get out of the car. Just then some ladies came out of the store. The man jumped back in the car and they sped off. I went back inside the store and waited for my mother to finish. I did not know what to make of this at the time, but now I thank God that nothing evil came of it.

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[deleted]

You are right about the adult thing. It's not entirely impossible though. Things like that happen, but I would think it rare. This happened back in 1981 when I was 7 in Malaysia. Different time frame, different culture, different people. Some people are careful, some people are simply lax. But I guess that's what makes us all unique.

Anyway, keep in mind my country is in Southeast Asia. Thailand is just north across the border, and Cambodia is northeast. Keyword = child sex trade. I was a little boy then, so the question of boobs or no boobs did not matter. Just the simple fact that I was, well, a child. Sickening, and there's a whole lucrative market for child sex alone up north, a dream haven for pedophiles interested in boys, girls or simply both.

In my country, sex slave for a couple is almost unheard of, unless they are a really demented couple. Ritual sacrifice is a probability but not widely known. Childless couple kidnapping a child to be their own is a possibility. This one I have heard of a number of times. A child made limbless and turned into a child beggar, this one I have heard of as well, but more across the border. Murder? Little to no profit to be had in murder. Would have ended that way though if it was just ransom they wanted, and did not get (or a plan that went drastically awry), which would have in turn made me a liability. Again, it's hard to say isn't it? People do unimaginable and bizarre things, sometimes with little to no logic involved.

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I dont think my story is anything dramatic but sort of fits the theme of these experiences.I was camping with my family [about 15 people..cousins.aunts,uncles]and i was tagging alng with Kari and Amanda my cousins who were probley about 14 or 15 at the time and i was about 9 or 10.There was a cute kid ron and my cousins thought he was cute so i did too.His dad would always talk to us and follow my family around and a different group of teenage girls were always with him.My cousins asked him for his sons e-mail adress and he said yeah just come back to the cabin with me being so naive[sp]i said "ok!"and thank god my cousins came with me.They didnt let me go in the cabin[which was right by ours].I look back on it and think what might have happened because at the time i didnt know how serios it was.and i remember my older cousin Jenny taking away the email adress and how mad i was.When people say dont talk to strangers you might just say yeah yeah i know but when it does happen you dont know until it might be too late.
fat-so raven =]


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my ex girlfriend almost got kidnapped

she walked to a craft store to buy a posterboard for some project

then while walking back home, 2 old guys stop by her in a car and ask her to go in the car

she said no of course and the 2 old guys took her poster and said they wouldnt give it back unless she went in

she just said ok and walked home

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[deleted]

ok... someone just wrote an extremely personal story and ur using words such as murder and 'lacking boobs'... are you dumb??????

no matter whether ur theory is right or wrong, you should still be a little more sensitive when phrasing ur thoughts...

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I don’t have a kidnapping story, but it is a “what was thinking?!” “What if” moments.

I was in high school, sixteen at the time, I was leaving school after practice (about 5:00 pm in the winter, so just starting to get dark but not too bad) Mom was working late so I had to walk, and it was POURING rain.

I had only walked a few yard off school property when woman in a van pulled up and asked if I wanted a ride. It was a green van and the woman in it had shoulder length brown wavy hair. So at first glance I thought it was my mom’s friend that I knew. Plus I was already soaked and cold and didn’t put too much thought into jumping into anything that was out of the rain.

It wasn’t until I got into the van that I realized I didn’t know this woman. She asked where I lived and I told her. Turns out she had just dropped her kids (who I knew) off at school play rehearsal and saw me getting soaked and wanted to do a good deed, she took me home.

It still creeps me out about how quickly I got into that van and what could’ve happened if she wasn’t just some school stage mom trying to be nice.

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You are so lucky man. It breaks my heart to know the world we live in is poisened by the filth that is pedophiles. The world would be a much more beautiful place if these people were hung. Most people are just out to do a good dead but their reputation has been tarnished by the scum of the earth.

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In the late 60's, I lived on Cape Cod in a tourist town. My GF at the time had an ex husband who hung out in our group. Nicest guy, intelligent, well read... but he had this habit of killing women. They dug up his septic tank and found recent body parts with bite marks through the muscle! They sent him to a mental institution for a while, then to prison - where someone hung him up.
They knew about 6 or 8 women, but he was also loose in the West and California for a while, back in the time of freedom and hitchhiking and anything goes, so who knows how many others met their fate.

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[deleted]

I am very proud of all of you that have spoken up. The only thing i wish you guys did was tell someone what happen. I understand you're younger by than

but most of the kidnapping happens in the malls or stores. if there is a kidnap or think something wrong tell someone. Even if you're wrong its better being safe than sorry.



Or even trick like in the movie. I am glad i haven't seen or heard anything that happen in my state of sex traffcing. Though i am sure there is.


Montel wiilaims had a story about a girl who was kinap and brought into teax from mexcian. She escaped :) thinks to a guy driving by and got some help.

I think the other problem is what girls wear today they look to hot at 13-14 years old. showing there stuff etc... And parents need to keep and eye on them alot more.

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