Attempted Child abduction at local park

[ShayBells]

I just read a story about a near child abduction at Hershey Park and where the staff and security basically did nothing to help.

I have heard stories about other near misses as well there and at other parks where security was horrendous.

I did some googling and have only found either false stories or people claiming there has never been a child abduction at Disney World or Disneyland. Is this accurate?

Have you ever heard of any near misses from the parks?

 

[low-key]

Many people here claim Disney never had ( or very few)child abductions. I dont buy it for a second.

 

[mom2rtk]

Many people here claim Disney never had ( or very few)child abductions. I dont buy it for a second.

How would Disney go about keeping something like that quiet?

 

[diznygirl]

I know of one near miss at a Disney resort.

An actual abduction would most certainly have made the news.

 

[low-key]

How would Disney go about keeping something like that quiet?

people of influence keep things quiet, but maybe its just never happen, my sense of reason wont allow me to believe that

 

[NotUrsula]

I think that like the vast majority of child abductions, the most likely kind to happen at theme parks are those that involve non-custodial parents.

I think that anyone planning to try to abduct a child (that they do not know) in Orlando has a whole lot of options for doing so that don't involve either the monetary investment and/or the blanket camera/RFID coverage that the Disney theme parks have, so I would suspect that real trafficking is a much greater problem. (By which I mean immigrant kids or local kids being trafficked to tourists. I think that in Orlando, just as in any tourist destination, vices can be had for a price, but such operations are usually run by people who are wily enough to know that trying to *take* a tourist is not worth the law enforcement attention it will draw.)

I do think it's highly possible that sometimes visitors might try it on impulse (not just with kids, but with adults as well), but I would bet the farm that they are almost always thwarted within minutes due to the number of people and the security presence in the parks.

PS: Repeat this to yourself at least once a day: "Facebook is not a reliable source of news!" As another poster said, if the only place you can find a crime story is on FB, it is pretty much guaranteed to be fake.

 

[ShayBells]

people of influence keep things quiet, but maybe its just never happen, my sense of reason wont allow me to believe that

I want to believe it, but I’ll watch my kid like a hawk regardless.

 

[ShayBells]

I think that like the vast majority of child abductions, the most likely kind to happen at theme parks are those that involve non-custodial parents.

I think that anyone planning to try to abduct a child (that they do not know) in Orlando has a whole lot of options for doing so that don't involve either the monetary investment and the blanket camera/RFID coverage that the Disney theme parks have, so I would suspect that real trafficking is a much greater problem..

I do think it's highly possible that sometimes visitors might try it on impulse, but I would bet the farm that they are almost always thwarted within minutes due to the number of people and the security presence in the parks.

This is true. Disney security seems so thorough compared to what I’ve read about other parks. The one at Hershey sounded terrible. The mom had to go through 4-5 people before she could even reach security then she had to demand they call the cops. And even then it seemed everyone treated her poorly and as if they didn’t care that the child in her care was forcibly taken before the other kids in her group fought back. I found this story though on my Facebook timeline not through the news. Same with another story I read at a local park where a dad had to pull his daughter away from a stranger and again where the park did nothing to help. Scary times.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

There have been assaults at pools in resorts, but no one has been abducted.

 

[gillep]

This is true. Disney security seems so thorough compared to what I’ve read about other parks. The one at Hershey sounded terrible. The mom had to go through 4-5 people before she could even reach security then she had to demand they call the cops. And even then it seemed everyone treated her poorly and as if they didn’t care that the child in her care was forcibly taken before the other kids in her group fought back. I found this story though on my Facebook timeline not through the news. Same with another story I read at a local park where a dad had to pull his daughter away from a stranger and again where the park did nothing to help. Scary times.

DIsney security is EVERYWHERE and they are always watching. I was in line at a food booth at F&W one year and some drunk guy was harassing a CM verbally for just a few short seconds, then he went to put his hands on her and a manager and a couple undercover security people were on him, the whole thing happened in such a short amount of time it was pretty incredible how fast they were on it and how many people swarmed all at once, all Disney people.

I don't think that even Disney could keep a child abduction quiet. Not to mention stranger abductions are very rare, it is so significantly more likely to be an abduction at the hands of a family member or someone known to the child.

 

[wenrob]

This is true. Disney security seems so thorough compared to what I’ve read about other parks. The one at Hershey sounded terrible. The mom had to go through 4-5 people before she could even reach security then she had to demand they call the cops. And even then it seemed everyone treated her poorly and as if they didn’t care that the child in her care was forcibly taken before the other kids in her group fought back. I found this story though on my Facebook timeline not through the news. Same with another story I read at a local park where a dad had to pull his daughter away from a stranger and again where the park did nothing to help. Scary times.

This sounds like one of those “this guy was following me at *insert name of street* Walmart stories. Coincidentally it’s happening in your local Walmart in every town in the US. There are tons of these type of “warnings” and nothing to back them up. If you can’t find any kind of real news story it’s likely it didn’t happen.

 

[EMom]

About 12 years ago, we were leaving MK at closing. Obviously, that is a super crowded time. As we got to the first of the shops on Main Street, a friend and I noticed two very little girls (3-4, maybe) walking, but holding no one's hand in that crowd. As we all shuffled along toward the exit, we kept looking for a corresponding adult, but never saw one. By the time we got near the train station, it was clear NO ONE was with those kids. So we went into Mom Mode and started talking to the girls, asking where mommy or daddy was. They said little, appeared confused, and looked back toward the shops. We figured we could take them to a WDW worker or try to backtrack and keep an eye out for a parent, searching frantically for two lost little girls. We backtracked., figuring if we found no parent by the time we made it past the shops, we'd hand them over to WDW staff.

The little girls went right along with us, and that alone was scary. We finally located two dads, standing by empty strollers, and were they surprised to see us with their daughters. Especially, because they didn't realize until that moment that the kids had been missing. The moms were inside the shops. Those kids had been out of their sight for a good 10 minutes, at a minimum, probably more. Considering how close they came to the making it through the exit, just shuffling along with the crowd, yes, I think they could have easily been abducted. Since their parents had zero idea they were gone, how hard would it have been? It would have hardly been WDW's fault, though.

 

[Jocelynaus]

...

 

[theluckyrabbit]

The pp is right about Disney security being everywhere. A friend tells a story about losing her son at DL. It was a case of "I thought he was with you," so no one noticed the little guy wander off. When it became clear that he wasn't with Dad or Mom or the grandparents, my friend went to the nearest CM. Security was called immediately. Things clicked into action -- Dad stayed put in case the child came back. Mom went to make a report with security. She was assured that there are cameras everywhere in the parks -- on average, about 40 kids a day are reported lost/missing and all are found and returned fairly quickly. This return took longer than normal because my friend was so hysterical that she couldn't give security a good description of her own son. Parents: please take a good, full length photo of your kids every morning so that you can show security what they look like and what they are wearing, just in case anything happens. Needless time was lost because my friend truly could not remember what her son was wearing (this was before everyone had a smartphone with tons of photos -- all she had were baby pictures in her wallet). But once a description could be sent out, her son was located quickly and returned. Happy ending: he didn't even know he was lost -- he was too happy wandering around mesmerized by the park! Bad things can happen anywhere, but Disney really does try hard to keep their guests safe.

 

[RangerPooh]

We have a story similar to what @theluckyrabbit posted. A few years ago (maybe 2013) our family was attending the Thanksgiving dinner at the Disneyland Hotel. It was packed. While we waited for our pager to go off to enter the banquet hall I excused myself to use the restroom, DH was to watch all four kids. Unfortunately while I was gone our youngest who wasn't yet 2 wandered off. We went into full panic mode. Security was called in and a description given. Thankfully he was found quickly by a group of off the clock cast members who were there for dinner. They noticed the little guy looking lost and kept him in their crosshairs, not letting anyone approach whom he did not appear to recognize. But it could have been much worse.

I do recall one instance that made the news about ten years ago. It wasn't an abduction in the park, but child pornography (or something along those lines) that took place at one of the WDW Resorts. Where the public was asked for assistance in identifying the location. It was quickly identified.

 

[mjkacmom]

Sounds like someone looking to sue Hershey Park. If it’s not in the news it probably isn’t true.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Many people here claim Disney never had ( or very few)child abductions. I dont buy it for a second.

100% agree

 

[princesspiglet]

Sounds like someone looking to sue Hershey Park. If it’s not in the news it probably isn’t true.

It's a legit story and is in the local news. I live in Hershey. The Derry Township police are investigating.

 

[princesspiglet]

This sounds like one of those “this guy was following me at *insert name of street* Walmart stories. Coincidentally it’s happening in your local Walmart in every town in the US. There are tons of these type of “warnings” and nothing to back them up. If you can’t find any kind of real news story it’s likely it didn’t happen.

This is a true story and is all over our local news. I live in Hershey and have friends that work at the park. It did happen.

 

[Hikergirl]

Sounds like someone looking to sue Hershey Park. If it’s not in the news it probably isn’t true.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/...f-after-reported-child-abduction-attempt.html