Young girl’s brother hailed for preventing kidnapping attempt

SEATAC, Wash. — An 11-year-old boy is being called a hero after he helped prevent a man from abducting his young sister.

The attempted kidnapping happened in broad daylight Sunday in North SeaTac park that is popular with local families.

Witnesses say some soccer players jumped in to help, too.

A man was allegedly trying to kidnap a 6-year-old girl in an area between the playfield and the basketball court.

A lot of people in the park made sure he couldn’t take her.

Karen Edgar and her 94-year-old mother-in-law walk regularly through the North SeaTac park. They weren’t far from the attempted abduction happened.

“No, no, I did not hear that,” said Edgar. “I would be more cautious out here if I had heard that.”

As it is, she says, she carefully chooses where they walk.

“That’s why we walk around this area here,” said Edgar. “Public. There’s more people. There’s more people on the roads.”

That likely made the difference Sunday afternoon. Witnesses say a 54-year-old man tried to snatch the girl at about 3:15 p.m. Her 11-year-old brother tried to intervene.

“Just what a big brother should do,” said King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Tim Meyer.

Meyer says her brother was hurt but he applauded his quick action.

“That builds in a moment of delay,” said Meyer. “We then have some soccer players that were there to join in. And they were able to get this gentleman held until just a few moments later, our deputies arrived.”

The suspect was a no-show at his bail hearing. A King County District Court judge found probable cause to hold him and put off setting bail until Tuesday.

The two soccer pitches are new to this park. And some say that is likely what saved the children.

“Because it used to just be an empty field before,” said Alexandrea Mariscal, a SeaTac parent. “And since they remade it, people have been using it a lot more. So, if he had done that before, I feel like nobody would have been there.”

Court documents say the man punched the little boy with a closed fist. He suffered minor injuries.

But Meyer says he and everyone else involved did everything right.

Investigators are trying to determine the man’s motive.

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