School: Potential Abduction Attempt Turned Out to Be ‘Honest Mistake'

Officials at a South Elgin middle school say a "suspicious" incident that authorities believed may have been a potential abduction attempt turned out to be an "honest mistake."

In a letter to parents, Lisa Olsem, principal at Kenyon Woods Middle School, said local police reported the man who tried to sign a student out of the school before leaving unexpectedly Tuesday has contacted police to explain what happened. 

"He intended to pick up his child at South Elgin High School but inadvertently went to her former school," Olsem's letter read.

According to the school, the man asked for a student by first and last name and it "sounded nearly identical to a Kenyon Woods Middle School student."

"In reality, he was saying the name of his child and then immediately realized he was at the wrong school and departed our school without explanation," Olsem wrote. "He successfully picked up his child at the high school next door."

South Elgin police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. 

Police initially reported a "suspicious" man attempted to sign a student out of the South Elgin middle school but left when he could not produce identification Tuesday.

The man showed up at Kenyon Woods Middle School about 9:45 a.m. and was buzzed into the main office for verification. He was asked for ID but didn't show one and then immediately left the building, according to an earlier letter from Olsem.

"Please be assured that this person never left the front office," Olsem wrote. "He did not enter any academic areas. All U-46 safety and security protocols were adhered to and the School Resource Officer, Detective Cooper, was notified immediately and began a cooperative investigation into the suspicious incident."

The parents of the student the visitor attempted to sign out were contacted by the school, Olsem said. 

Dena Fagan is the mother of the 14-year-old

"My husband called and said somebody tried to pick up our daughter from school today claiming that they needed to take her for an eye doctor appointment," the teen's mother, Dena Fagan, said.

Fagan said her daughter was "freaked out."

South Elgin Deputy Police Chief Randy Endean said technically no crime was committed, but the department was investigating it as a "suspicious incident."

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