Abduction Of Child Is Called Hoax Second-Grade Girls Fabricated The Report, Spokane Police Say

Fri., Oct. 8, 1999

By Kevin Blocker kevinb@spokesman.com

A child abduction near Holmes Elementary School reported by second-grade girls Wednesday morning was a hoax.

Spokane police spent seven hours investigating the alleged abduction before determining that four girls in the second grade fabricated the report.

When the girls’ parents arrived at the end of the day, three of the four immediately denied seeing anything, said police spokesman Dick Cottam.

The false alarm was frustrating for police.

“There were a lot of calls into the department today that had to go unanswered because of this,” Cottam said. “This was frustrating and wasteful.”

Cottam wasn’t sure of the total number of officer hours spent on the case, but he said many will collect overtime pay for the day.

The department’s first shift of the day ends at 1:30 p.m. Officers wrapped up the case at 3:45 p.m. Cottam didn’t know how much overtime the city would have to pay.

The investigation began at 9 a.m. when the four girls told a teacher they saw a man grab an unidentified girl and run away with her at the northwest corner of Sinto and Lindeke streets.

“We immediately called the police when we were notified,” said Holmes Principal Denise Sandbo.

The four girls told police they did not know the girl who they said was grabbed.

“There were some inconsistencies in their stories, but police didn’t believe they were making this up at the time,” said District 81 spokeswoman Terren Roloff.

Police set up a command post at the 600-student school and remained there for the rest of the day to account for every student.

The search proved challenging due to unexcused absences. School district officials strongly urge parents to report their children’s absences.

Police had to spend “a lot of time calling homes trying to figure out if anyone was missing,” Roloff said.

Six students who were absent without excuses didn’t live in homes with telephones. Police had to go to their homes to make sure they were accounted for.

Police contacted every home within a four-block radius of the school, checking yards, buildings and vacant lots. Nothing suspicious was found, Cottam said.

Sandbo sent a letter home to parents at the end of the day telling them of the investigation.

Roloff said Holmes officials will determine next week what form of disciplinary action should be taken against the four girls.

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