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Deputies release sketch of man possibly connected to Ormond Beach attempted abduction

By Mike Springer, WFTV.com
By Mike Springer, WFTV.com
An investigation is underway after deputies said a man used candy to try to lure some children in an Ormond Beach neighborhood.
The children involved were not hurt, but the man has not yet been found.

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — The Volusia County Sheriff's Office released a sketch of the man Wednesday.

The encounter happened Sunday at the Shady Oaks Mobile Home Park on Hand Avenue.

"I had a 13-year-old, 14-year-old with them watching them while I was cleaning the house, and all of the kids were screaming," an aunt of one of the boys told an emergency dispatcher. "By the time I got in my car to get to the corner, he was gone."

Thomas Smith, the father of one of the children, said a teenager saved his son and another boy.
Smith’s 8-year-old son and his son’s 6-year-old friend were playing in a yard when Smith said a stranger pulled up in a pickup truck and offered the boys candy if they would get inside the vehicle.

Raw: Father speaks about son's attempted abduction

Smith said a 14-year-old friend nearby saw what was happening and yelled for the man to leave.
The teenager also told the children to run home. 
“I don’t want it to happen to anybody else,” Smith said.
Smith said his son burst through the front door upset, and he ran outside to confront the man, but the truck sped off.
“If I catch him, it’s going to be hell to pay,” said Smith.

Deputies checked the sex offender registry to see if anyone had a vehicle matching the description, but there were no matches. The children described it as an 2000s gray Nissan pickup truck.

Cox Media Group

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