ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Lyon County Sheriff was able to disprove a report of a possible abduction Wednesday in Rock Rapids.
The sheriff launched an investigation after witnesses reported seeing a girl, approximately 15 years of age, being forced into an older model Pontiac Grand Prix. The girl was described as kicking and screaming.
The event happened at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday near the Sunshine Foods store in Rock Rapids.
The Lyon County Sheriff's Office did not receive a missing persons report, and the information was released in an effort to ascertain whether the event was a family dispute or an actual abduction.
It was eventually determined Wednesday evening that the girl was with a group of teens who were engaged in youthful hijinks.
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This incident is just the latest in a series of attempted abduction and suspicious person sightings that have been reported recently in the region.
Last week, Lake Park, Iowa, Chief of Police Joe Hoover issued a press release stating that Lake Park Police were dispatched to reports of a man who was following a girl on Sept. 3; and another similar incident Sept. 4 in which a 35-year-old woman was approached by a male driving a white van.
The female involved in the Lake Park incident described the white male as 60 to 66 years old with a beard and large framed prescription eyeglasses. The suspect vehicle appeared to be a 1990s or newer white van with two rear door windows blacked out with Dickinson County plates.
On Sept. 5, the Lyon County Sheriff's Office investigated an attempted abduction of a 61-year-old female from outside of her residence in Little Rock, Iowa.
The suspect in the Little Rock attempted abduction was described as an older white male with graying long hair and a beard, approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing approximately 250 pounds. The subject was driving a smaller, older, dark-colored (possibly black) car with a white top.
Another report of a suspicious person in the vicinity of the school in Round Lake was investigated Friday by the Nobles County Sheriff's Office, although no contact was made.
