Pender Sheriff: Beware of man asking about lost puppy

PENDER COUNTY – The Pender County Sheriff’s Office is attempting to identify a man who has approached numerous, Hampstead area, elementary school aged children asking if they have seen his lost puppy.

Saturday afternoon two girls, ages 9 and 11, were playing in their neighborhood when they were approached by a middle aged white male driving an older model, dark green, sports utility type vehicle. The man asked the two girls if they had seen his “lost dog”. The girls quickly left the area and alerted their parents to the situation.

An older brother, of one of the girls, attempted to follow the vehicle to obtain a tag number but lost sight of him before one could be obtained. The man was seen by multiple individuals ranging in age from 9 to 17. He is described as being in his mid 40’s wearing a ball cap, a mustache and stained teeth. The incident took place in a residential neighborhood close to North Topsail Elementary School.

We have been hearing rumors of similar incidents taking place in various locations (in both Pender and New Hanover Counties) over the past two weeks. Unfortunately, we have not been able to trace the source of these additional accounts to verify their factual basis.

After Saturday’s incident was reported, the children involved were interviewed in great detail at the scene. Their separate accounts of this incident coupled with the corroborated description by the older brother leads me to believe that the information that we are releasing is highly reliable. It is also greatly disturbing to know that someone is out in our neighborhoods approaching children in this manner.

After being interviewed, the children worked with a Wilmington Police Department sketch artist who produced the attached rendering of the man. Anyone who recognizes the individual depicted in the drawing is asked to contact Pender County Detective Scott Lawson at (910) 259-1438.

Lawson is also asking that parents take the time to talk to their children about being aware of their surroundings and quickly alerting a trusted adult if something happens which makes them uncomfortable.

INFORMATION FROM A NEWS RELEASE SENT TO THE WWAY NEWSCHANNEL 3 NEWSROOM…