A 12-year-old girl walking to school earlier this week was contacted by an unknown man in a vehicle who gestured for her to get into his car. When she ignored him, the man drove away.
On Monday, May 6, 2024, at about 7:50 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a parent wanting to speak with an officer. The investigation revealed that the parent’s 12-year-old daughter had been walking to school that morning around 7:50 a.m. While she was walking eastbound in the 200 block of Sheridan Avenue, a man drove up behind her. She heard a muffled voice coming from the car and looked back to see the driver and solo occupant gesturing at his front passenger seat. She interpreted the gesture as a sign for her to get into his car. She ignored the man and kept walking, crossing the street in front of his vehicle when he stopped for the intersection with Park Bouelvard. The man had no further contact with her, and she last saw his vehicle driving northbound on Park Boulevard. The girl later told her parent about what happened, and her parent notified police.
The girl described the man as an unknown race male in his thirties or forties with a light-to-medium brown complexion. She said he had dark brown hair in a buzz cut, with a short beard. She said he was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt. The girl described his vehicle as a white four-door sedan with black wheels and a beige interior. She said it had regular white California license plates. No suspect sketch will be forthcoming.
Detectives are actively investigating this incident. There have been no similar incidents reported to police recently in Palo Alto.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
