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Man tries to grab girl at Volusia County gas station, mother says

HOLLY HILL, Fla. — Holly Hill police are searching for the man one mother said tried to grab her teenage daughter at a gas station.

The incident happened Sunday just before 8 p.m. at Murphy USA gas station at 1903 N. Nova Road in Holly Hill, police said.

A man with white hair and a distinct white mustache reached into the mother’s vehicle where her 14-year-old daughter was sitting, and tried to grab her, police said.

The daughter began yelling, "no, no," and when the mother confronted the man, he said, "sorry," and walked away, police said. He later got into a gray smaller truck and drove away, police said.
No injuries were reported.

The mother told police she reported the incident Tuesday after reading about a similar attempted abduction earlier in the week in a Holly Hill neighborhood, police said.

Investigators said late Wednesday that they think the incident at the gas station was a case of mistaken identity. Investigators told Channel 9's Mike Springer there are a lot of drug deals in the area and the man may have went to the car thinking he was buying drugs.