Abduction, Attempted Kidnapings Alarm City

RIVERSIDE â€”  A series of attempted abductions of schoolgirls, and at least one confirmed kidnaping, have triggered alarm among parents, police and educational authorities here.

Police have linked a single suspect to two of the incidents--the kidnaping of an 8-year-old on March 3 and the attempted abduction of a 10-year-old on Tuesday, said Lt. Richard Albee of the Riverside Police Department. In both cases, the suspect drove a blue four-door sedan and approached the children on city streets near elementary schools just before classes were to begin.

Police have not revealed whether the kidnaped girl was injured or molested. She was released several hours later in Mira Loma.

The suspect--described as a white male, 6 feet tall, 200 pounds and missing four front teeth--remained at large, police said.

Police are investigating the possibility that as many as four other attempted abductions are linked to the suspect, Albee said. Also being examined is any link to the unsolved kidnaping and murder of 9-year-old Sanda Astorga of San Bernardino, who disappeared near a San Bernardino elementary school Jan. 10.

But police stressed that they do not have any evidence to connect the suspect with the other incidents.

At Riverside schools this week, parents were accompanying children who usually walk to school alone. School officials were requesting that parents urge their children to take additional precautions, such as carrying pencil and paper to copy down the license numbers of suspicious vehicles.

“Everyone is naturally concerned, but it’s not a panic situation,� said Barbara J. Poling, superintendent at the AlvordUnified School District in Riverside.