I think a woman was trying to abduct my son

This happened in May 2023 and I have been searching for similar things every now and then. I haven’t been able to find anything similar, so I’m sharing my story here now.<br><br><br>I have a 2 year old son, let’s call him Sam. Sam and I were driving to work. Sam is a very friendly and curious child, so he loves waving at people and saying hello even if it’s people at the traffic lights. Once we arrived at work, and I parked my car in the car park. I was about to take Sam out of the car when a woman approached the front passenger window, waving at Sam. She was smiling at Sam and Sam smiled and waved back at her. I sort of ignored her and thought she was just being friendly. I took Sam out of the car and put him into a stroller. As I was walking away the woman approached us and said “Wow, your son is a cutie! How old is he?”. I thought she was being friendly so I said 2 years old, and she smiled and said “Really? I would have thought he was older than that, he’s so tall and big for his age”. I said “Yes, he is very tall and long”. Sam was just watching us talk. The woman then said “Can I hold him or give him a hug?” and I said “No, it’s okay. I don’t let strangers touch him”. She then said “Oh, okay. I just love children and would always want to cuddle them”. I said “That’s okay, but I don’t let him be touched by strangers”. The woman then asked me if I have a husband or boyfriend and I told her I didn’t have either. She asked if I work at the building we were in and I said yes. The whole time Sam wasn’t saying anything and just watching us. She then said “Well, okay. I hope to see you around!”. I said okay and walked inside the office, and the woman walked off in a different direction. <br><br><br>As the day went on, I started thinking about the conversation I had with the woman. I realised she was very strangely interested in Sam. I have had people comment on Sam’s cuteness before, but this felt very strange. I’ve always had a gut feeling when it comes to things like this, and this didn’t sit right with me. I told some of my coworkers about the interaction I had with the woman and they all told me to be careful and maybe think about reporting it to the police.<br><br><br>The next morning, I took Sam to daycare. I parked my car in the car park, and took Sam out of the car and put him into a stroller. As we were walking to the door, I noticed the same lady from the day before. She was standing at her car and I realised she was parked 2 cars down from us. She waved at me and Sam again, and I just waved weakly and walked away. She followed us to the door and said “Oh, you’re dropping him off to daycare? What time do you pick him up?”. I just said “Later this afternoon” and walked inside the daycare. Sam and I walked into his classroom and the lady followed us inside. I sort of stopped in my tracks when she did this. She said “Oh, sorry. I’m just here to pick up a child!”. I walked over to the teacher who was looking after Sam, and the lady walked over to the reception. I whispered to the teacher and said “That lady over there approached us yesterday and approached us again today. She keeps asking questions about Sam and I’m a little bit worried for his safety. If you see her at pickup time, please don’t let her in”. The teacher said okay and said she would let the other staff know. I left Sam at daycare and went to work. The whole day I couldn’t stop thinking about what the lady had said and done. I called the police and let them know what happened, and they said they would send someone over to take a statement. I gave a full description of the lady and a statement and the police said that if I see her again I should contact them. I was very worried when I picked Sam up from daycare, that the lady would be there. Luckily she wasn’t there. Since that day, I haven’t seen the lady again. I have told other parents at the daycare about the lady, and none of them have ever seen her before. It was like she just appeared and disappeared. <br> <br>I don’t know what would have happened if I let my guard down, but I’m glad I didn’t.