EVERETT — Police on Tuesday were going door-to-door in south Everett looking for information about a man who kidnapped a 5-year-old girl from her bedroom early Saturday morning.
The girl was found safe about 90 minutes later. Detectives have been canvassing the child’s neighborhood along 112th Street SE to ask questions and distribute fliers. Trained man-trackers have been working in the area as well.
The Everett Police Department assigned extra detectives and patrol officers to the case, spokesman Aaron Snell said Tuesday. They also were getting help from Washington State Patrol crime-scene technicians and Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies.
“We have substantial resources working on this,” Snell said.
Anyone who was in the area at the time, or who may recognize the suspect description should call 425-257-8450.
“We check all the different angles and leads that come to us,” Snell said.
The suspect was described as clean-shaven with dark-colored eyes and no visible tattoos. He is believed to be shorter than average and has dark skin. He wore a backward white baseball or “painter” style hat. He also wore two earrings in each ear, including gold studs and what appeared to be diamonds. He also had on green and blue tennis shoes. He was wearing light-colored pants and a dark shirt.
He was believed to be a stranger to the victim. Detectives say the man removed the girl’s window screen and climbed inside before carrying her away. Surveillance video showed him in the parking lot nearby around the same time.
She was left alone on the Interurban Trail and found help by knocking on a door along Bruskrud Road. Detectives believe the man then walked through a neighborhood in the 10900 block of 10th Drive SE.
The girl was partially unclothed, but there were no obvious signs of sexual assault, according to police. Her family has asked for privacy.
Child abductions by strangers are rare, making up less than 2 percent of abduction cases, according to the Washington State Patrol. Eight Amber Alerts, the electronic messages sent out in the case of a missing child, have been issued in the state so far this year. The girl in the Everett case was found before an alert could be issued.
In 1995, 7-year-old Roxanne Doll was kidnapped from her Everett bedroom and raped and murdered. The killer, Richard Clark, is serving life in prison without possibility of parole.
According to federal crime data, most abduction cases involve family members, including parental custody disagreements. Most abduction cases are resolved within 24 hours, and 99 percent of children are returned alive.
Most kidnapped children are either returned or killed within four hours, according to the State Patrol.
Attempted abductions are most common on weekday afternoons and evenings, including times when children are walking, waiting at bus stops, or riding their bicycles to get to and from school, according to the FBI. The majority of victims are girls.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449, rking@heraldnet.com.
For more information about child abductions, visit the National Center for Missing &Exploited Children’s website at www.missingkids.com or the Seattle Children’s Hospital’s abductions page, http://tinyurl.com/SCHabductions.
Police say parents should keep extra tabs on their kids and keep doors and windows closed and locked. Parents should consider getting fingerprints for their children to share with law enforcement in case of the unthinkable. They also should keep a current photo handy and call 911 as soon as a child is missing.
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