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Child abductor in a white van

A

ampman48

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
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Oct 5, 2011
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Our neighbourhood has been in turmoil over the past week on account of various sightings of a man who tries to lure children into a white van. Most are of the FOAF variety but are understandably being taken very seriousley by schools and parents. The area involved is about 10 square miles and some of the descriptions of the van are quite detailed but sometimes conflicting. One school is not even allowing childen onto the playground and another has teachers posted at the gates at break time. On the other hand two schools have sent messages to parents saying that it is all a hoax and the Police are non commital but tending towards the hoax theory.

Is this a classic urban legend? When my own children were at school 30 years ago I'm sure it went round then and the van was always white, never coloured.
 
Where is the area?

I've heard that roy whiting had a white van but robert black had a black van, anyone know if this is true?
 
Yeah, the child abducting van is a pretty old urban myth from decades back, from many countries. I'm pretty sure we have a thread on it here from a few years ago, and in Scotland there was a recent variation on it involving puppets.

Doesn't mean no abductor has ever used a van, but it can't be as common as all that.
 
The panic continues to feed off itself around here even though the police say they have had no reports of attempted abductions. This is the first time I have experienced the power of an UL and it is amazing that peope believe what a casual aquaintance puts of Facebook as gospel.
 
This crime does occasionally happen though, probably once every 5 or 10 years. Roy whiting was a prime example.

I'm sure it will happen again at some point.
 
From the local paper last week,

TWO youngsters in Monmouthshire were approached by someone in a white Transit van, in one case a young girl was asked to get in.

The 13-year-old girl was near the entrance of Pembroke Close, Undy, between 6.45pm and 7pm on September 30.

The van stopped and the girl was asked to get in, but she ignored it. She wasn’t touched and was not harmed.

On the evening of October 4, a teenage boy was walking on Bulwark Road, Chepstow, near the Spar shop. The van drove past him slowly before a man got out but he did not approach the boy or speak to him.

Gwent Police said they wanted reassure people no children have been harmed in the area as a result of these approaches.
Click to expand...

http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/9 ... to_get_in/
 
It's hardly an urban legend, but of course it isn't true every time it comes up. It surely stems (in the UK) from a couple of serial child murderers who used the 'lure 'em into a van' technique, plus the fact there are half a dozen or more well known but unsolved dissapearences of young girls which are fixed in the collective conciousness.

It's more in the nature of group hysteria.
 
Around here we get far far more unique reports. Every once in a while the "tried to pull a kid into a car" one pops up, but the weirdos in this area stick to much more creative stunts... So it is hard to doubt some of them.
Such as the guy who grabbed a kid, pulled their backpack off, released the kid and proceeded to have his way *cough* with the backpack.
Or the guy who ran around grabbing the back of kids' bicycles and offering to inflate their tires with his ultra-powerful pants demon...
And so on.
 
I visited my daughter in the next county today and told her all about the man in the white van and how it probably was an Urban Legend. She agreed and commented on how gullible people can be about rumours and then in the next breath said that in her town there was a real case of a bogus social worker trying to take a child out of it's home! I thought it best not to enlighten her.
 
This same "white van" scare-story circulated among homeless orphans in India five or six years back.
 
There is also a UL about white vans being seen in the area and then a sudden disappearance of the street's moggies or doggies.
 
I remember as a kid, there being a panic in the school yard because a "strange man" in a white car was stealing cats/dogs from peoples gardens. The story then went, that he would keep a couple of the moggies/pups in his car and ask a local kid to come and look at his pets, then he would kidnap the child. :roll:

Well, while playing out after school we would all be keeping an eye out for this white car. I never saw it. Also, I never recall any adults talking about it. I guess every school kid has some form of this UL to keep them on their toes! :lol:
 
A variation on this is the story which went around my primary school in Wigan in the early 80's and was actually spread by the teachers:

'A man has been seen with an air rifle near to the school and has been taking shots at the playground'

I recall that we were not kept from playing out however and also, that the police were not called!

Maybe this should be in the weird school test thread?! In fact, I think that I will put it there too!
 
Well, yes, teachers are relaying Chinese whispers the same as everyone. Except that their sources are often the local Education Authorities, who issue alerts. These are pinned on notice-boards, read out at assemblies etc. etc.

I well remember scoffing at a version of the Smiley Gang rumour, which was circulating in a staffroom in Salford. I was directed to the notice board, where the LEA alert was posted. Proof! Even if no one could tell me where double-sided razor blades were to be found locally. It just doesn't work with wimpish modern razor formats.

Even those who believed the rumours were rot felt obliged to warn their classes, since "mind your back" is a mantra so universal it does not need to be stated in teaching. :?
 
ampman48 said:
....then in the next breath {she] said that in her town there was a real case of a bogus social worker trying to take a child out of it's home! I thought it best not to enlighten her.
Click to expand...

Now here I've long accepted the existence of (or at least first-person reports of interactions with) British "Bogus" or "Phantom Social Workers" as fairly well-established.

Did I put my brain on standby far too early?
 
He's back! According to the local rag a man in a white transit van"shouted at a boy walking home from school". Local schools have sent notes home alerting parents. Why is it always a white van ? Surely a change of colour would have the element of surprise.
 
I know - Robert Black, a rare actual child abductor, used a blue van.
 
Perhaps a disguise like this would create that element of surprise:

FreeCandy.jpg


I mean, who would suspect? :lol:
 
Freak Andy!! Can't say he doesn't give them a sporting chance! :shock:
 
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