Alexander County Emergency Communications center received a call regarding a possible child abduction attempt in the Chapman Ln area of Sipe Rd on Tuesday. The call was received around 4:05 p.m. from a residence where the mother of a young child stated she had witnessed an unknown male standing in a field approximately 30 yards from where her child was standing. When the mother saw the male she says he took off running away from the residence.
The incident began when the caller said she stepped inside her home for a minute while her child was playing outside the home. When she came back outside she said she did not see her child but heard the family dog barking behind their residence. The caller stated that when she went to see what the dog was barking at she saw her child standing at the edge of a field that borders her yard; that’s when she noticed a male standing about 30 yards east of her at the opposite edge of the field. She ran back to her house with her child and called the Sheriff’s Office. Officers responded quickly and surrounded the area setting up a containment perimeter on the roads around the incident.
As investigators arrived on scene, K-9 tracking assistance was requested and a Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit responded to the area. The K-9 searched the field but did not pick up on any strong track where the caller said she had observed the male standing in the field. Sheriff Bowman arrived on scene and requested that a helicopter respond to the area from the NC Highway Patrol Air Unit stationed in Salisbury. The Alexander County Rescue Squad also responded to the area with their ATV Search trailer and assisted officers on the ground with searching along the riverbank near Liledoun Church Cemetery.
NC Highway Patrol Helicopter Searching The Area
Officers searched the area from the air and from the ground for nearly two hours before efforts were called off due to a lack of further evidence of the unknown male suspect being discovered. “Officers have searched extensively in the area but no further evidence of the suspect has been discovered” said Sheriff Chris Bowman. “Although it is unclear what this person’s intentions may have been, at this time there is no evidence that he is still in the area” Bowman continued.
The suspect was described by the witness as being a white male approximately 5′-6″ tall, medium build, and was last seen wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans. The witness said she observed the male run east from the edge of the field adjacent to her home until he disappeared from her sight near the Liledoun Baptist Church cemetery entrance road. Anyone who may have observed a person fitting this description leaving the area of Liledoun Baptist Church or the Liledoun Rd / Sipe Rd area yesterday around 4:00 p.m. is asked to contact the Criminal investigations Unit of the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office by calling 828-632-1111. Sheriff Bowman gratefully acknowledges the support of all agencies who assisted in the search.