Botetourt Co. deputies investigate attempted abduction

By Lindsey Ward

Published: October 13, 2008

11:00 p.m. Story:

Everything moves a little slower in Iron Gate, except the traffic passing through on Route 220.  The sounds of cars are usually the only noise in the town of less than 400, but Monday the buzz was all about the latest crime.

Two teenagers were nearly abducted by a stranger on 10th Street.

The Botetourt County Sheriff’s Department wouldn’t release many details about the case, in fear it would jeopardize the investigation, but the victim’s family says their daughter and her friend were walking across the street when a man pulled-up in a green vehicle, demanding they get inside. 

That’s when the two ran and called 911 from a nearby house. 

However, the family says the suspect didn’t stop there and he tried to break-in the back door.
   
They worry he could come back and they are now keeping their daughter within arms distance.
   
Locals know very few details about what exactly happened, but say just the thought of another crime in the area is shocking.
“It definitely makes me a lot more nervous, it’s Iron Gate, it’s a small town and you would never think that anything would happen like that.  “We leave our doors unlocked and leave the cars unlocked and now you can’t do that,” said Mickey Curtis, a resident of Iron Gate.
 
Iron Gate’s a stones throw from Clifton Forge, where recently two other women were victimized driving through town.
   
Emily Hipes doesn’t live in Iron Gate, but is worried none the less about the recent rash of crime in these small communities.
“I lock my doors every time I get in my car, I’ve changed a lot of things now, because it’s so small you don’t think it would happen here,” said Hipes.

It’s important to point out the description of the man the family gave in this attempted abduction case does not match the description of the suspect in the Clifton Forge carjackings. 

Police wouldn’t give any details on who they’re looking for.

If you have any information on this attempted abduction, please call the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Department at 540-473-8230.

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Botetourt County Police are investigating an attempted abduction.
   
It happened in Iron Gate around 8:30 p.m. Sunday night.
   
The Botetourt County Sheriff wouldn’t release too many details in fear it would jeopardize the investigation.
 
Iron Gate is just minutes away from Clifton Forge, where police there are investigating two abductions that happened in the past two weeks.