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Original poster

kidnap attempt in shop - is it true?

65 replies

jenhden · 15/11/2009 21:36

in the past two months i have heard three almost identical stories of an attempted kidnap and am wondering if it is an urban myth or if there is a spate that i would have expected to hear on the news by now.

whati've heard is that whilst paying a cashier in a shop a mother turns to realise her young daughter who had been attached by a wrist strap rein has gone, with the strap cut.

The cashier presses a panic button which locks all the doors and the girl is found in the toilets with someone who has cut her hair off and dressed her in boys clothes in order to get her out of the shop unnoticed.

one was a mothercare in hull, one an asda in leeds and the other a supermarket in birmingham.

Has this happened?

OP posts:
EldonAve · 15/11/2009 21:39

urban myth

Feenie · 15/11/2009 21:40

Nope.

Here

LowLevelWhingeing · 15/11/2009 21:42

I heard this too, but it was an asda in south london! Very glad to hear it's not true.

exexpat · 15/11/2009 21:44

Sounds like a variation on an urban myth which has been doing the rounds for ages - setting is shopping mall or theme park, and kidnappers supposedly change child's clothes, dye hair and so on. One variation I've often heard has it that the child is only spotted on the way out because the kidnapper failed to change their socks/shoes. See these versions on Snopes here.

I don't think you need to worry - any more than any parent usually does, that is.

MakemineaGandT · 15/11/2009 21:45

I heard this about Balham Sainsburys about 5 years ago! Must be an urban myth....

emaritska · 27/11/2009 17:44

This particular myth is now doing the rounds in Surrey/ussex...had 6 messages today about it

Bucharest · 27/11/2009 17:45

It's more than an urban myth.
It's clever, vile Daily Mailesque racist bigotry disguised as a caring community.
Note how whatever the story, the perps are always Roma?

thedollshouse · 27/11/2009 17:48

Why do people make this sort of stuff up?

I used to get really annoyed with a work colleague who would forward this type of thing to me. If it was true it would make the national news.

EvilTwins · 27/11/2009 17:49

I heard that too - in Bradford.

pofacedandproud · 27/11/2009 17:51

been doing the rounds for years

mrstimlovejoy · 27/11/2009 17:54

this went round where i live,a girl was taken from her parents car as she'd been left in it.again was found in toilets with 2 european ladies who had cut her hair short and dressed her in boys clothes.there was an article in our local paper saying it was a hoax.the thing is where it was supposed to have happened is a few miles away from where the mccanns live

suwoo · 27/11/2009 17:55

Its been going around for years and is currently doing the rounds in Manchester. I have heard this week about it happening in two different branches of Asda.

Even bloody 7 year old DD has come home from school and told me about it.

PrincessToadstool · 27/11/2009 17:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chaotica · 27/11/2009 17:57

How bloody wierd. Although I've never heard the story. Maybe that's because I am Roma and would therefore be doing the stealing. (Oh, that's right, I wondered where those two blond toddlers I have came from... )

(Gypsies have been stealing babies for a thousand years - heaven knows why, I can only just cope with my two.)

FiveGoMadonTheDanceFloor · 27/11/2009 17:57

It is not an urban myth, a friend of my sisters who works for the Met Police was called to an incident in a supermarket exactly as described.

Buda · 27/11/2009 17:58

I heard it about a supermarket near a friend's house and a shop in Ennis in Ireland. All in same week.

pofacedandproud · 27/11/2009 17:58

when was that Five as I've heard it going round for at least 5 years...

Chaotica · 27/11/2009 17:59

Sorry - fivegomad... but 'a friend of my sister's...' is not a very good way to make us all believe this to be true.

currycrazy · 27/11/2009 17:59

i heard this when i lived in spain,how bloody weird......i heard the same story but it was morrocons apparently doing the attempted kidnap

Chaotica · 27/11/2009 18:00

We get everywhere, Buda. Have to hire buses to move all the kids around

Tee2072 · 27/11/2009 18:00

It is an Urban Myth five. Think about it. Public bathroom. People in and out. And the kidnappers are going to have the time to shave the head/dye the hair/change the clothes with no one noticing?

Also, name one shop that actually has a button at each cashier station that locks the store down instantly.

Not to mention, it would be all over the news in 5 minutes. Find me an actual news report.

Right a friend of your sister's. Or, more likely, a friend of your sister's friend.

thelunar66 · 27/11/2009 18:01

I first heard this fairy tale about 14 years ago. It was meant to have been Meadowhall Shopping mall in Sheffield.

suwoo · 27/11/2009 18:01

It is soo not true, here it is on Snopes the urban myth busting website.

FiveGoMadonTheDanceFloor · 27/11/2009 18:02

Well seeing I have met him and know his brother very well can definitely say that he is a friend of my sisters. Whatever you think.

scrappydappydoo · 27/11/2009 18:03

Hmm - I heard it happened in my local Asda last week but I figured if it was true it would surely be reported in local newspaper but nothing so I'm taking with a pinch of salt..