I was a surveillance target for a human trafficking ring as a child

I (F 24) have been thinking about this a lot lately. I was a ballet dancer as a kid and I practiced at a studio in a busy shopping district. There was a McDonald's nearby where my sister would go to eat and hang out with the other siblings whose sisters were in the same class as me. <br><br>One day while we were waiting for our older sisters to finish their classes, my younger brother and I were approached by a man. He was dressed in newer casual clothes and had really short, bleached blond hair. He had a short, well-groomed beard and was probably in his mid-30s. He looked like he was in pretty good shape. <br><br>He asked if we wanted to see some baby deer in the alley behind the building. My brother and I were pretty skeptical but we were only 8 and 9. We had never been to ballet practice alone before and we wanted some adventure. So we said, "sure". <br><br>He walked us through the shopping district toward the alley. We walked behind the McDonald's. I can't remember if he pushed or grabbed us, but he placed his hands on the back of our shirts and directed us into a van. There were two other men and a woman inside. <br><br>The back of the van had been converted into a standing room. It was probably about 6 feet tall, 6 feet wide, and 12 feet long. There were two benches placed along one of the longer sides of the room. <br><br>He opened the back of the van and told us to get in. My brother and I both said "no" almost in unison. The guy raised his voice and said "get in the van!" My brother started crying. I looked at my brother and started crying. We both turned and ran away from the van. The man started yelling at us. We didn't stop running until we got back to the McDonald's. <br><br>I went straight into the women's bathroom. I went into a stall and locked the door. Even though I had the stall door locked, I sat on the toilet facing the corner. A few minutes went by and someone opened the main bathroom door. I heard a man ask "is there a little blonde girl in here?" The woman next to me said yes. The man said "she's my daughter. I'm looking for her". <br><br>I started to open my stall but the woman next to me said "no, don't come out". I closed the stall door and locked it again. I heard the main bathroom door close and the woman asked if I was okay. I told her what had happened to me and my brother and said that the man who was looking for me was the man who wanted to abduct me. <br><br>She said he wasn't my father and that she believed me. She told me to stay in the stall and ignore anyone who talked to me. I heard the main door open and close several more times. I heard several men ask for me. I can't remember how long it took for someone I knew to find me. It felt like it was hours but in reality, it was probably only 20 minutes. <br><br>When my sister found me one of the other ladies told her what happened. My sister went out into the shopping district and found the man who was trying to abduct me. She said that he was furious when he saw her. She told him to leave and threatened to call the police. <br><br>For years after that, my family would see him and his friends around town. We'd see them at the river and at the mall. Whenever we saw them we'd call the police and let them know that the man who tried to abduct my brother and me was around. We'd see them for a couple of days at a time and then they'd leave for a while. <br><br>When I got older I started looking up news articles from the 90s in my state. There were so many articles about missing children. Most of them didn't have any updates. I did some research and found that my city was one of many along the I-5 that was used by traffickers. <br><br>I started telling this story more when I got into my 20s. I mentioned it to a friend of a friend one time. This person told me they had a similar experience when they were a child in the 90s. They also practiced a sport in a busy area and a man had tried to abduct them in the same way. They got away and told the authorities and nothing ever came of it. <br><br>It's always made me wonder if the guy who tried to abduct my brother and I was part of a larger organization. It's always made me wonder if we were going to be sold to some sex trade industry. I'm so thankful that my brother and I got away when we did. I'm so thankful to the lady who kept my secret when my abductor came looking for me. <br><br>If you were the man who almost took me then... let's not meet again.