Families in one Deltona neighborhood are on edge after a man offered candy to middle school children, presumably to lure them to the car, just before they boarded a school bus.
- Deputies: Man in silver or gray car offered 3 students at a bus stop candy
- The students reported it to the school resource officer
- Deputies have few leads
Volusia sheriff’s deputies say a man driving a silver or grey car drove up to a bus stop on Tivoli Drive and April Avenue and offered three children candy.
That incident has parents on the lookout out for someone possibly trying to harm their children.
“It’s terrifying,” said Chris Szell.
Szell and his wife, Gloria, were alarmed to hear a man tried luring three of their neighbor’s children, all siblings, into a car.
According to a police report, those three children told a school resource officer a man in a grey or silver car pulled up to them while they were walking to their bus stop.
The report says the man told the children his car was full of candy, but drove off when a parent at the bus stop noticed what was happening.
Those kids boarded the bus, and reported the incident once in school.
Gloria Szell believes she may have seen that car driving past her house.
“I saw like a silver/goldish car driving slow just around the block. Honestly more than six times,” said Szell.
That car drove off when Szell approached the driver.
Deputies are calling on other law enforcement agencies and the public to be on the lookout for a tanned-skinned man with big brown eyes, brown-grey hair combed to the side, either 60 or 70 years old, driving that car the kids described.
Deputies have few leads in the case.
“My kids are here all the time, my neighbor’s kid. Down the road there’s another kid. They always play out here. And you know, something like that happening around here, it’s scary,” said Szell.
Deputies are leaving notices on homes, asking people to contact police if they can provide any information that will help them find the driver.