By Brian C. Louwers and Maria Allard
C & G Staff Writers

WARREN — Police are asking parents and students to be alert after a pair of alleged attempted abductions reportedly targeted two sisters at a school bus stop in the Fitzgerald Public Schools District.

According to Warren Police Lt. Michael Torey, a suspect described as a white male in his mid 20s, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing about 165 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes, and a full beard and moustache first approached a 12-year-old girl at a bus stop on the corner of Christopher and Pearl, near Nine Mile and Dequindre, at about 4 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Torey said the suspect reportedly inquired about a neighbor’s home and asked the victim where she lived. The girl reportedly told police that she ran to her home about a block away after she was confronted, and that the suspect drove north from the bus stop toward Nine Mile in an older model, white, two-door vehicle.

A second incident reportedly involved the girl’s 10-year-old sister on Nov. 17, when a suspect matching the description of the man from the previous alleged encounter approached the girl at the same bus stop at roughly the same time and addressed her by name.

“He walks up to the 10-year-old and says, ‘Your dad told me to give you a ride home,’” Torey said. “The ironic thing is that they’re sisters.

“They got a good look at the suspect,” Torey said, adding that police do not believe the man was a relative or someone else known to the family.

He said family members are obviously concerned.

“He called her by name, but she claims that she doesn’t know him and she’s never seen him before,” Torey said. “[The parents] were upset, concerned, obviously. They can’t come up with anybody, either.”

Fitzgerald Public Schools administrators and board members were notified immediately of the attempted abductions, said Barbara VanSweden, FPS assistant superintendent of curriculum. She added that bus drivers in the Schofield Elementary School area were made aware of the incidents.

“We did send a letter home to the Schofield families,” VanSweden said. The letter informed parents of the incidents and also reminded them to talk to their children about staying safe.

Safety tips also are provided on a regular basis at the schools, and the topic is addressed when the district’s liaison police officer visits the schools.

“In school, we’re always talking to our students,” VanSweden said.