Mother Says Kidnapper Tried Abducting her 3-Year-Old Daughter in El Cajon

EL CAJON, CA - A reported abduction attempt at Parkway Plaza mall in El Cajon was under investigation Wednesday.

A woman told police she and her 3-year-old daughter were walking away from their vehicle in a parking lot at the shopping center in the 600 block of Fletcher Parkway when a stranger in tan shorts and black flip-flops tried to kidnap one or both of them early Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities did not immediately release further details about the crime, including how the victims escaped.

The mother described the would-be kidnapper as a balding, middle-aged, roughly 6-foot-2-inch, 225-pound Middle Eastern man with a potbelly and "dirty blond" hair, Lt. Royal Bates said.

Detectives were reviewing surveillance video from various cameras at the mall in an attempt to identify the perpetrator, Bates said.

By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock