Abduction try on girl spurs hunt for driver

Benton police detectives are asking the public for assistance in identifying a person who tried to abduct a 16-year-old girl in the downtown area Monday morning.

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The girl told officers she was walking about 9:40 a.m. in the vicinity of South and Main streets in Benton when a man got out of a Chevrolet S-10 pickup, approached her and tried to coax her into the truck.

"The victim told him no and [he] got back into his truck and again tried unsuccessfully to get her to get in with him before driving off," according to a news release from the Benton Police Department.

A witness in the area saw the man trying to get the girl into the truck and started yelling, which prompted the man to leave the area, the news release said.

The upper part of the truck is dark blue or purple and the lower part is red. The driver is described only as a Hispanic male.

"Our detectives currently have a person of interest that is being investigated in relation to the attempted kidnapping," said Lt. Kevin Russell, a spokesman for the Benton police, said in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon.

But he said detectives still wanted to encourage people with information to come forward. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at (501) 778-1171 or (501) 315-8477.

Metro on 07/30/2014

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