Suspicious men repeatedly approach a young girl while walking her dog

Reporter: Taylor Petras
Published: Updated:
Site of the suspicious encounters. (Google Maps photo)
Site of the suspicious encounters. (Google Maps photo)

Fort Myers Police Dept. asks parents and their children to be vigilant of suspicious encounters or conversations with strangers.

A mother of an 11-year-old girl alerted authorities to an encounter her daughter had with a stranger. While her daughter was walking her dog, she noticed a white work van on Cedarbend Dr. in Fort Myers.

As she proceeded with her walk, two men between 20 to 30-years-old with dark hair, asked her to see her dog, the FMPD press release states. The young girl avoided them and continued to her apartment.

On Tuesday, the same men and the suspect vehicle followed her, leading the young girl to return to her apartment and notify her parents.

Jim England told WINK News he remembers seeing an old white van.

“It was an older panel van and it had the roof racks, the single bars across,” England said. “One in the front, one in the back. And I didn’t think anything of it, so I just gave them the eyeball until they, you know, left.”

Taylor Rietz, a neighbor, said she was troubled upon hearing the news.

“We go for walks a few times during the day,” Rietz said. “It’s scary to hear that there’s some scary men out there.”

The Cedarbend Dr. Fort Myers incident was the second stranger danger alert in less than a week.

Another girl, 11, told police a man in a black pickup truck followed her in her neighborhood. The person would even pull a gun on her.

If you have information on the men or the van, FMPD requests you to call (239) 321-7700.

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