Reported abduction (2009) - Benton Harbor MI

Investigators are trying to learn if there's substance to a
teenage girl's claim she witnessed the abduction of another teenage
girl off a Benton Harbor sidewalk Wednesday, city police reported.

Capt.
Robert O'Brien said the alleged incident took place between 7:05 and
7:10 a.m. at the corner of Britain and Colfax avenues. However, the
witness didn't report the incident until more than two hours later, and
there are no other new reports of missing children in the Twin Cities
area.

"We've done everything we can on this end, but as of yet
we've not located a victim," said Capt. Robert O'Brien of the Benton
Harbor Police Department.

The 14-year-old girl told staff at
Benton Harbor Freshman Academy, where she is a student, about the
incident at about 9:30 a.m., O'Brien said. School officials then called
police.


The
girl, whose name has not been released, told officers she was walking
east along the south side of Britain while the alleged victim was with
a friend, walking west on the north sidewalk.

An eastbound red
or maroon four-door car, possibly a Saturn, stopped on Britain, the
girl told police. A light-skinned black man in his 30s got out of the
car and snatched the girl and drove off, according to the account.

O'Brien
said police searched the neighborhood but could find nothing to
indicate an abduction. Furthermore, police have not heard from the
alleged victim's friend.

O'Brien said city police are working
with the FBI and a national missing child clearinghouse. The department
has issued a bulletin throughout the Law Enforcement Information
Network.

Anyone with information in the case is urged to call O'Brien at 927-8413.

On Wednesday, a teenage girl claims she saw another girl get abducted on a Benton Harbor sidewalk.
Now, police are trying to determine the validity of those claims.
Police say it happened just after 7 a.m. at the corner of Britain and Colfax Avenues.
The girl says a red or maroon car stopped and a man got out and snatched
the alleged victim. But, the witness didn't report it until over two
hours later at school, and there are no new reports of missing children
in the area.
Police are working with the FBI on the case.

No additional information found at this time.