I met a man as a child who knew me

I was at the park playing on the swings when this man came up and started talking to me. I was about 8 years old and being a typical curious child who loved talking to strangers, I had no problem with this. <br><br>He said he was my dads friend and I believed him. I don’t know specifically what was said but eventually he asked if I ever used the swings by myself while my dad was at work. I said yes and he said he could kill me there and no one would ever find my body. It was a weird thing to say as I remember but I thought he was just trying to be funny. <br><br>Then he asked what I did if I ever felt scared when I was home and how I would protect myself. We talked for a few minutes and he ended the conversation thanking me and saying we’d talk again soon. Then he left. <br><br>I only remember this once so I’m not sure if it was a recurring thing. I do remember that it happened again and I was a little older, but I only remember the first time. <br><br>I should state that the park in my neighborhood is in the middle of our cul-de-sac and everyone sees everyone as it’s a small neighborhood. It was not out of the ordinary for an unfamiliar person to be walking a dog or with family in our neighborhood. <br><br>I never told my parents about this but it had a profound effect on me as I’m terrified of being alone. Shortly after I started getting scared of being alone in my room at night and switched with my brother to the room closest to my parents. I specifically remember being scared and telling my dad that he was my safe place or something crazy like that. <br><br>My neighborhood had several incidents of missing children in my area while I was growing up. I specifically remember one that happened at my neighborhood park while I was in college and the only lead the police had was a guy on a green bike hiding behind a tree not far from me.