North Mpls. Abduction Might Be Related To Other Case
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minneapolis Police are looking into another incident where a young girl was abducted by a man from her north Minneapolis home.
During the first incident back on Dec. 6, the suspect was caught on a neighbor's security camera walking away with a 7-year-old girl.
She was missing for two hours before she was found blocks away from where she was taken.
Now investigators say there is a possibility the suspect is connected to a second abduction.
Investigators say they were recently made aware of a previously unreported abduction, which happened in early to mid-October.
It was that security camera footage from Dec. 6 that sparked that parent to come forward. Police say the child was around the same age, and was in the same area.
"There are some similarities between these two cases and we believe it is possible they may be related," said Minneapolis Police Cmdr. Catherine Johnson.
Investigators say they cannot go into specifics about the October incident, but they believe the suspect caught on camera could be responsible for more than one abduction of a child in north Minneapolis.
"The similarities are what's allowing us to make those connections," Cmdr. Johnson said.
She wouldn't say why the family did not report the crime when the child went missing in October.
"They have come forward at this point and they are being very cooperative with the investigation and are helping us at this point," Johnson said.
What she would say is the child was taken and returned in pretty much the same way the 7-year-old was reunited with her family, several hours after she was taken.
Police are looking for a white male in his mid-30s. He was last seen wearing a dark jacket with a horizontal stripe -- possibly gray or white -- across the chest.
He was driving a four-door, dark green small or mid-size car and has two big dogs at his home, one white and the other black.
Johnson believes someone out there knows the man they are looking for.
"The smallest detail, the smallest missing piece may be the thing that helps us to solve this case," Johnson said.
She says the case remains a top priority for police, and the public has provided great tips for investigators -- but more information is needed.
If you have any information, you can give it to police anonymously by calling their tip line at 612-692-TIPS, or 612-692-8477.