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VM

Whoa, scary...

mood: shocked shocked
What the hell?

My niece was almost kidnapped.

I apparently got an email from my sister-in-law about this on Wednesday, but Google mistakenly marked it as spam (I only found it because I went looking for it after reading the article). I'm not sure what the non-public details are yet, but I'm having dinner with my sister (who apparently received the full briefing) so I should know what happened later tonight.

Important thing being that my niece is safe and sound and she got away unharmed. Very surreal thing to randomly come across in the paper though.


*Update* This may take some time to fully suss out. The main stuff is in the article, but now it looks like I need to wait a bit and see what ends up being said and what if anything comes of this in the short and long term. The important thing is that by all appearances my niece fared just fine and she was able to go back to school today. I'll post updates as I get more information.

Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 at 02:18 pm | | Leave a comment | 27 comments |

Comments


chaoticgoodnik

Dude. Glad she's okay.
Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 08:45 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Thanks, we're all a bit shaken up about it, but she seems to be doing fine.
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:48 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

susandennis

Wow. I cannot imagine what reading that out of the blue must have been like! I have now cleared out my Spam folder and will be keeping an eye on it. I hate missing mail.

I am glad to hear that your niece is ok. Yikes.
Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 08:53 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Yeah, out of 700+ messages in my spam folder only 2 weren't spam and only one of them (the one from my s-i-l) was personally directed to me. Upon reading her email, I can see how she managed to trigger the spambots wrath. I think I counted 3 or 4 blatant spam type lines that I could see getting it flagged.

I think I'm going to keep a closer eye on my spam folder now too though.

Thanks, we're all relieved and shaken up by this. It's just not something you ever think is even remotely likely to happen so when it does you're totally caught off guard.
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:51 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

i_robot

That's crazy! Doesn't make me feel any better about my son living in TX and not with me (Though this sort of thing can happen anywhere, it's an easy scapegoat to blame TX).

Glad she's safe.
Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 09:18 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Hey, at least in Texas it's a lot more likely someone who saw this going down might be legally armed and willing to do something to the dirtbag.

Texas is like the anti-gun lobbies' worst nightmare. A state where the concealed carry permits didn't result in mass shootouts over traffic accidents, instead violent crime rates dropped significantly.

I'm sure you're son will be fine down south.

Yeah, I'm really glad this didn't turn into a horror story of some sort.
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:48 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

waxesglad

oh my god.
(and here i was hitchhiking for the third time today because of an unreliable bus system... get home and am packaging up birthday presents for my one and only niece, annabelle.)

i'm so glad she got away.
Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 09:55 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

You hitchhike? Yeeesh. Brave woman there. I'm scarier than most people out there and I wouldn't do that.

I'm relieved this didn't end up a tragedy. I'd never even thought something like that could happen to someone in my family.
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:45 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

waxesglad

i never hitchhiked in my life until a month or so ago. soon i'll just electric tandem everywhere because i sure don't like being driven to that.

<3
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 03:00 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Yay, electric tandem! I'm really curious how that thing will work (I had no idea doing such a thing was even possible).
Posted on Oct. 7th, 2008 03:18 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

waxesglad

brushless electric rear hub motor... and lithium batteries. plus they are reinforcing the frame to the extreme. (i want to put a doggy trailer on the back so i can get the pups to the vet for their tests and shots).
Posted on Oct. 7th, 2008 04:42 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Very cool. Out of curiosity, how much weight is that adding to the bike?

A doggie trailer would be very cool. I'd do that for mine, but they run faster than I can bike so it would be pointless (plus that's like another 150lbs between the two of them).
Posted on Oct. 7th, 2008 04:44 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

waxesglad

i think around 30 pounds added to the already 60-70 pounds of bike itself.

i just can't have the dogs running alongside me with their leashes around my handlebar anymore after the horrible dog-induced wreck i got into at the beginning of the year.
Posted on Oct. 7th, 2008 07:29 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Right, dog's attached to bikes has always seemed like a recipe for disaster. I would love to be able to take Zhaan and Saks out when I go mountain biking, but figuring out the logistics of the dogs + bike always seemed way to daunting.

So, when are they going to finish with your bike? Did they finally get started on it?
Posted on Oct. 7th, 2008 09:18 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

waxesglad

i called them two days ago and they were supposed to call me back. NO WORD YET. i hope they didn't take my money and run. that would suck. a lot.
Posted on Oct. 8th, 2008 02:19 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

That would suck :(

Well, if they bail on you and you need me to break some kneecaps ;)

Or I could show up with the screwgun and we could electrify your bike ourselves (that sounds like more fun actually).
Posted on Oct. 8th, 2008 03:44 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

jetgrrl01

Oh my god, that is just horrifying. Thank goodness she's okay.
Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 10:10 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Yeah, no kidding. I'm very relieved that this didn't turn out horribly.
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:43 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

clunymph

yikes... and "dozen registered sex offenders living within a mile of the Wiggs campus." = hella scary. i hope i don't turn into one of those super paranoid moms.
Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 10:26 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Eh, somehow I doubt it was a "registered sex offender". Sadly those registries include a whole lot of "crimes" (e.g. statutory rape between teens) that don't necessarily correlate to something like this.

Besides, the registry clearly didn't help something like this not happen. I really don't think those things to much to actually prevent people from committing any crimes. They just seem to permanently follow someone regardless of what their crime might have been or whether they have "paid their due to society"

All that being said, I think you'll be a "properly paranoid" mom
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:42 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

laruth

How scary! Glad to hear that your niece is ok.
Posted on Oct. 3rd, 2008 10:49 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Yeah, seriously. Thanks though, I'm still processing this whole craziness.
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:38 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

pfjunkie

the one at/near Wiggs? wow...Glad she's ok
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:33 am (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Thanks. Family stuff will be weird for a while I think, but I'm glad she was ok. It's freaky that something like that could happen though.

It's left me feeling out of sorts. It's just wow, not something I ever expected to happen.
Posted on Oct. 4th, 2008 07:37 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

stumbleine9

i'm glad to hear your niece is ok. what a scary thing to have to go through!
Posted on Oct. 5th, 2008 05:16 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

stitch_vicious

Holy shit, that must have been scary. It's a good thing she managed to come out of this safely.

I was thinking about this and remembered something from a social psychology course I took a few years back. If you're ever confronted like this, best thing to do is yell, "Get away from me, I don't know you!" Supposedly, that statement gets more attention than yelling for help. There's a whole King of the Hill episode devoted to this.
Posted on Oct. 5th, 2008 08:56 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

mermaidt

This is beyond frightening. I'm so glad to hear she was lucky enough to be able to call her mom in the end.
I chalk Washington up to being the state that breeds serial killers and sex offenders and seem to think if I raise my children someplace else then it will be ok but I'm only kidding myself. ugh
Posted on Oct. 6th, 2008 06:15 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply