Oct. 9, 2000
A manhunt is underway across the Wasatch Front as police search for two men who kidnapped a girl at gunpoint while she was walking to school this morning, and then sexually assaulted her.
The girl was very shaken, but the vice principal at Kearns Junior High says they expect the 12-year-old to be okay, and return to school soon.
The attackers are still out there. They struck this morning on a busy street corner in the middle of rush hour.
As traffic was picking up at the intersection of 4200 West and 5415 South around 7:00 a.m.,
a 12-year-old girl was walking to Kearns Junior High, just a block away.
A dark red car pulled over, one of the two men inside asked the girl in Spanish to jump in.
She refused...
Det. Chad Zitting/S.L. Co. Sheriff's Dept: "THE PASSENGER IN THE CAR GOT OUT, PUT A GUN TO HER HEAD AND PULLED HER BACK INTO THE VEHICLE."
With the gun at the girl's head, the car drove to an area behind the post office two blocks away.
Jed Boal/Eyewitness News: "AS THE ATTACKER STARTED TO FONDLE THE GIRL, A SHERIFF'S CAR HAPPENED TO DRIVE BY. THE GIRL SCREAMED. THE DEPUTY COULD NOT HEAR HER, AND THE ATTACKER THREATENED TO SHOOT HER. BUT, THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS MAY HAVE SAVED THE GIRL FROM FURTHER HARM."
Det. Chad Zitting/S.L. Co. Sheriff's Dept: "AFTER THE PATROL CAR LEFT THE AREA THEY LET HER GO."
The girl went home and her mother called the school. School authorities called police.
The girl did not get a detailed description of the attackers.
They drove an older dark red car with leather seat covers
The school does not plan to send a letter home with students because the description is too vague.
Shelly Pierce/Vice Principal-Kearns Junior High: "WE ARE GOING TO TELL THE STUDENTS THAT THEY NEED TO TAKE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS, WHICH THEY SHOULD AT ALL TIMES ANYWAY AND WALK IN GROUPS AND THAT IF THERE IS A PROBLEM, GO TO THE NEAREST BUSINESS OR HOME AND CALL THE POLICE OR THE SCHOOL SO WE CAN TAKE CARE OF IT."
The school has not had any similar incidents this year.
Shelly Pierce/Vice Principal-Kearns Junior High: "ANY TIME THAT COMES TO OUR ATTENTION WE IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY OUR DISTRICT POLICE FORCE SO THAT THERE ARE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE LOOKING OUT FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR STUDENTS."
Police think someone must have seen something at the busy intersection this morning.
They will have extra cars in the area and want students to walk in groups and stay away from strangers.
