He tried to pick up an 8-year-old Dunedin boy who was walking home from his bus stop, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

DUNEDIN – Deputies are searching for a man who tried to kidnap an 8-year-old boy in Dunedin, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies said that about 2:55 p.m. Friday (April 6), the boy was walking from his bus stop, northbound on Colony Drive, when the man drove up next to him and told the child, “I work with your dad and he wants me to pick you up.”

The boy did not recognize the man and kept walking northbound. The man stopped his vehicle and got out, possibly attempting to grab the boy who ran home and told his parents. His parents called deputies.

The boy is safe and unharmed. The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic man between the ages of 30 and 40. He is tall and thin with an athletic build. He has a dark complexion, with marks (possibly freckles) on his cheeks, dark brown hair that is short on top and buzzed on the sides, with a short mustache. He was last seen wearing dark rimmed sunglassesand a light blue, short-sleeve collared shirt.

The boy last saw the vehicle heading eastbound on Chadsworth Drive in Dunedin. The vehicle is described as a small, silver or grey, newer model, four-door SUV.

Anyone with information about this investigation or any related cases or questions, please contact Crimes Against Children Unit Detective J. McGonigle at (727) 582-6566 or email him at jmcgoniglejr@pcsonet.com.

Composite of suspect courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Pinellas Sheriff | Crime | Attempted Kidnapping | Kidnapping | Tampabay News

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