TERRIFIED FAMILY: ‘Intruder had been trying to abduct their 8-year-old…’
HYANNIS – Hyannis News covered a Breaking and Entering Wednesday evening where a woman woke to find an intruder in her kitchen. A Barnstable Police K-9 team responded only to have their track cut short by a skunk. The suspect was not captured. Click here to view the original coverage…
A day later the family of the Captain Ellis Lane home are putting things together and believe Wednesday’s B&E was actually something much more troubling. Today, HN received calls from the family, stating they believe the intruder has been targeting their 8-year-old boy for abduction.
HN met and spoke with the victims who wanted to speak out so others in the area know there’s a strange man possibly stalking children.
Wednesday evening at about 10:37pm, a woman had been sleeping on the couch in her living room when she was awakened by her dogs. At first she chastised the dogs for making noise, but realized something was really wrong when her pets continued in low guttural growls.
She sat up on her couch and looked in the direction of the kitchen where her dogs’ growling seemed to be focused.
The figure of a strange man was standing in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. The two rooms were only separated by a flimsy wooden doggy gate.
She then noticed the man holding her 8-year-old grandson’s backpack and shoes, along with a package of his juice boxes.
The man was staring at her grandson who was sleeping next to the doggy gate that evening because of alterations being made to his bedroom.
The petrified grandmother wanted to scream but was so scared she was unable to make a sound. She describes the bizarre manner in which the intruder was staring at her grandchild; according to her, he was almost fawning over the sleeping child like the way a mother looks upon her newborn child. The horrified grandmother said she remembered quickly looking around her coffee table for something that could be used as a weapon. She remembers wanting to strike him with everything she had.
The grandmother also remembered locking eyes with the intruder as he made his way out the back door. No words were exchanged. The man dropped the child’s belongings and escaped over a fence in the backyard. Police arrived soon after. A promising track of the suspect was being conducted when a skunk sprayed the dog making it impossible to continue. A K-9 from Yarmouth was called in but it was too late. The suspect had escaped.
After police processed the scene, dusting for finger prints and taking photos, the grandmother was able to calm down and began to recall things which made the intrusion even more unnerving.
The grandmother recalls her grandson being especially afraid of the kitchen within the past two weeks. She remembered her grandson telling her about the possibility of a stranger previously entering the home and being out in the kitchen. The grandmother explained away those comments as it most likely being her other adult-age grandson returning home from work. She was now beginning to have her doubts.
She then recalled her little grandson telling her about an encounter in recent days with a man in the street. He had been riding his bicycle in front of the home when a strange man drove up and began speaking with him. He asked if the little boy liked baseball. The boy said he did. The stranger then offered to show the boy his baseball card collection. The boy did not take the bait and instead told his grandmother everything. She remembers having a very stern talk with him about the dangers of talking with strangers.
Today I received a call from the grandmother and the boy’s aunt. They had been discussing things and felt fairly certain Wednesday’s B&E was actually a home invasion and abduction attempt.
The family is now taking measures to make their home safer and more secure. They are also taking measures to become more vigilant. But they also wanted to get their story out because they fear for the safety of other families and children in the area.
Both women were clearly mortified after realizing the intruder’s malicious intentions. They struggled to fight back tears but quickly took some comfort in that the failed abduction attempt was actually a second chance to be more vigilant. They were making the necessary shift from being victims to becoming vigilant survivors. They were now warriors fighting back.
Both women were advised to continue to reach out and cooperate with police. HN also passed along details and findings to police.
WARNING: This family wants the community to know the suspect who entered their home is targeting children. He’s a white male of medium build and appears to be in his mid to late 30s. He was wearing a baseball cap but the victim was able to notice he had brown hair. He was wearing a black nylon runner’s jacket with some type of red insignia running down the side. He stood about 5’9” to 5’10 inches tall. His pants were black, possibly jeans. He was wearing white sneakers. He had about three day’s growth of facial hair. He was wearing an earring. Despite the facial stubble, he looked somewhat “put together” and did not look homeless. The grandmother described the man’s face as being “Y” shaped. (She has a vivid memory of the man’s face and hopes investigators will be able to make some type of composite sketch of the suspect when she meets with them again. She also would like to look at photos of pedophiles and sex offenders in the region because she feels she would be able to identify the man right away.)
There are more details and the grandmother said she will be passing those along to police. The aunt had an interesting idea about the fleeing suspect. It’s a long shot, but since the police dog was sprayed during the track, she wondered whether or not the suspect may have also been sprayed by the same skunk. If so, a local convenient store may have sold this man a skunk spray remedy such as tomato juice…
Anyone with additional information about this incident is urged to contact the Barnstable Police Department at 508-775-0387.
8/21/2014
Robert Bastille
rjbastille@yahoo.com
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