A Maple Ridge mom is speaking out after a stranger allegedly tried to lure her nine-year-old daughter into his truck.
Krystle Keating said her daughter was with some friends behind a McDonalds near Lougheed Highway and 228 Street Tuesday when a driver pulled up and called to her.
“He just approached her and said, ‘Hey you, get in my truck, I want to take you somewhere,’” Keating said. “It’s my biggest fear, every mother’s biggest fear.”
Fortunately, Keating’s daughter did the right thing and ran for help.
“I’m just really, really proud that she didn’t panic and that she did what she was supposed to do,” she said.
Police are investigating the complaint and hope to speak to the driver, who’s described as a South Asian man with a red turban. They said it’s unclear why he may have approached the girl and are urging him to come forward.
It’s possible he circled the parking lot in his truck multiple times, police said.
The startling incident came shortly after two other child luring attempts in Chilliwack, where young girls were approached a few weeks apart.
An 11-year-old was offered candy by a bearded man in a van on April 30, and a 12-year-old was approached under similar circumstances on May 17.
Investigators don’t believe the Maple Ridge and Chilliwack cases are connected, but urge all parents to speak with their children about stranger danger.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Sheila Scott
