At the time of Lucy’s call, Oil City police were in the midst of investigating an odd occurrence that had been reported earlier that night. At 8:06 pm, local resident Dan Paden had been walking along Reed Street, a leafy suburban neighbourhood lined with residential houses when he sighted a young girl dressed in a top and shorts walking alone down West First Street. She was approaching the Reed and West First intersection in front of a medical centre across the road from the Presbyterian church.

A tall, thin, scruffy-looking man wearing an army jacket and baseball cap was walking in the same direction on the opposite sidewalk, smoking a cigarette. Dan observed the man cross to the other side of the road before appearing to scoop the girl up and run around the corner. Seconds later, he heard a muffled scream. Dan ran towards the intersection and witnessed a small, boxy dark red sedan vehicle speed away. It looked to be an Oldsmobile with Pennsylvania state license plates, but it moved too quickly for Dan to catch the plate number. Although he hadn’t seen the man put the girl in the car, both he and the girl were now gone. Dan immediately began banging on the doors of nearby houses until a woman answered, before frantically telling her: “I’ve just seen a little girl kidnapped and I need to call the police.”

________

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at anytime you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. Some suggestions for confidential support for men, women and children:

AUSTRALIA:

Lifeline Crisis Support: 13 11 14

Beyond Blue: Depression and anxiety support: 1300 22 46 36

Rape & Domestic Violence Services: 1800 737 732

Men's Line: 1300 78 99 78

Headspace: Youth Mental Health Foundation: see headspace.org.au for your local centre

USA:

Distress &  Lifeline: 1800 273 8255

Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741 741

Domestic Violence Helpline: 1800 799 7233

Victim Connect: support for victims of crime: 855 484 2846

MTC program: maketheconnection.net/resources/spread-the-word

UK:

Mind: mental health support: 0300 123 3393

SANE: mental health support: 0300 304 7000

Samaritans support network: 116 123

National Stalking Helpline: 0808 802 0300

CANADA:

For a list of Canadian crisis centres: https://thelifelinecanada.ca/help/call/

NEW ZEALAND:

Lifeline: 0800 543354

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (Text 4202)

CREDITS

NARRATION:

Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host

EPISODE:

This episode of Casefile was researched and written by Eileen Ormsby, whose latest book The Darkest Web – Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives: The Inside Story of the Internet’s Evil Twin is available now!

MUSIC:

‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro www.dl-sounds.com

All other music and audio clean up performed by Mike Migas

OTHER:

Logo design by Paulina Szymanska

THIS EPISODE’S SPONSORS

ZipRecruiter – Post your jobs for FREE

Quip – Get your first refill pack FREE with a QUIP electric toothbrush

Hello Fresh – Get $80 OFF your first month of Hello Fresh subscription with a promo code CASEFILE80

Calm – Get 25% off Calm Premium subscription