Union County Weekly on white van

The Union County Weekly ran an article last week on the white van and alleged kidnapping attempt discussed previously here and here.

Local police are apparently no closer to identifying the suspect at this point. Per the article:

Although Waxhaw police officers thoroughly checked the area immediately after the report, so far they’ve had no luck identifying the man or his van. “We’ve had absolutely no updates on the situation,” Waxhaw Police Chief Michael Eiss reported. “But we’ve stepped up patrols all around the area in response to reports of van sightings in other parts of Waxhaw.” Similar reports describe a man parked in other Waxhaw neighborhoods with the driver inside taking notes.

No real details as to why it took nearly ten days for word of this incident to get out to area neighborhoods (via this blog for example) and another three days after this before it hit the Charlotte media. Publicizing the reasons it took so long for this incident to come to light might help local law enforcement make the necessary modifications to their protocols so future kidnapping attempts can more quickly be brought to the public's attention. A more vigilant public may have been a valuable asset in capturing this guy.

Per the article:

“The Waxhaw Police Department has always been very responsive,” said James Mynatt, President of the Camberley Homeowner’s Association. “They passed the information on to me as HOA president, and we’ve done our part to get the word out to our residents.”

...

When word of this began to spread beyond Waxhaw, Deputy Sherriff Mica Crenshaw with the Union County Sheriff’s Office says his office got involved to ensure no misinformation got disseminated. Crenshaw sent out a release Friday, March 25, to inform the public about what had transpired. Since then, calls have come in about white vans in Marvin and Waxhaw, but in each case deputies found the driver had a legitimate reason to be in the area. Crenshaw urges people to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 704-283-5600 immediately if they have any information about this case.

I'm guessing the notice I received from the WAA was a direct result of the sheriff's department release. There's no mention of how quickly the Waxhaw Police informed the president of Camberley's HOA about the incident.

For the record, it did go up on Crime Reports on March 18th, but only those who dutifully check those reports would've been aware of a kidnapping sans details. And since the details of the crime are not included on Crime Reports, it's only of limited value in comparison to a public release by local law enforcement.