Worried parents are on high alert in a rural Donegal village, after Gardaí reportedly linked a recent child abduction attempt to two similar incidents in recent months.
A schoolboy was riding his bicycle through Kerrykeel village on the Fanad peninsula on the north coast of Donegal at around 9pm last Sunday when a man stopped his van, possibly a Renault Kangoo, at the roadside and asked him to get into it.
The child, who escaped from the man by dislodging his wing mirror and told his parents, who contacted the Gardaí in Milford, described the man as having a local accent and said he was wearing a hooded top.
Now, according to a report in the
Irish Independent, detectives are linking the latest abduction attempt to two more which occurred in the same area in the last six months.
An eight-year-old boy, also riding a bicycle, says he was grabbed by a man driving a white van in August, while a third child reported a man asking him to get into the same vehicle in April.
The community of Tamney, just 5km from Kerrykeel, is also on high alert after a woman was sexually assaulted at the back of her house at around 10pm last Friday.
The woman has gone outside to get coal when the attack happened.
As Gardaí hunt for the attacker, who was around 5'9 and wearing a green army jacket, blue runners and a white jumper, Garda Superintendent David Kelly warned women in the area to be particularly conscious of their personal safety.
Anyone who may have seen anything suspicious is asked to contact the Gardai at Milford on 07491-53060.
