Paxton Police advise of 3rd incident of strangers offering rides to kids

Ford County CrimeStoppers is seeking information about yet another stranger offering rides to children in Paxton.

CrimeStoppers welcomes all tips about any suspicious activity.  Anonymous calls can be made to 217-784-4173.  Callers can also contact Paxton Police at 217-379-4315. 

Paxton-Buckley-Loda school district officials are alerting parents of a third incident in an eight-day span involving a young person being approached by a stranger.

The latest incident occurred at 9:30 p.m. Monday at Westlawn Park, at the intersection of Elm and Orleans streets. An 18-year-old female was on a swing in the park when a dark-colored, newer-model sport utility-type vehicle approached the park.

A female reportedly approached the victim. The woman asked the teenager if she could with directions.  The teenager pointed in the right direction for the street the stranger was looking for; and the woman then asked her if she could get in the car to show her. The victim started placing a phone call when the suspect walked back to the vehicle, got in the passenger side, and went eastbound on Orleans Street."

The female passenger was described as a middle-aged female, age 30 to 35, with either brown or black shoulder-length wavy hair, light pale skin, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

There was no description provided of the driver.

Another incident occurred at 8:05 a.m. Sunday in front of the Full Gospel Christian Fellowship, on S. Railroad Ave.

In that incident, two young girls walking by the church were approached by a vehicle, described as a black van or sport utility vehicle, that was being driven by a "white older female," possibly in her late 50s,  Also in the vehicle was a child, 8 to 9 years old.

Police report the vehicle first drove by the girls going south on Railroad Avenue (U.S. 45) and then turned around. The vehicle then came back north toward the girls, and its driver then asked them if they wanted a ride.

Another incident, already reported, occurred Aug. 19, when a man reportedly tried to lure a young girl into a car near Washington and Prospect streets, alongside Glen Cemetery on Paxton's southeast side.

Possible attempted child abductions have also been reported recently in Monticello and Champaign.