The Independence Police Department issued a statement on Tuesday aimed at dispelling rumors of an attempted child abduction that allegedly happened at the Kroger in Independence.
The statement says that, according to talk in the community, a man approached a woman at Kroger and began yelling at her before attempting to snatch her child from her shopping cart seat.
The department points to inconsistent tellings of the story and states outright, “the Independence Police have had NO calls at Kroger that match any of the above incidents over the past month. We have made no arrests inside Kroger and have not had any reports of any attempted kidnappings or assaults inside of the Kroger in Independence.”
The statement said that neighboring jurisdictions have not reported similar events in their own areas. The statement concludes by saying, “The incident is either a misrepresentation of a past event that has evolved into something more than it was or a complete fabrication…”
The department asks that anyone with knowledge of the alleged victims should contact Independence PD detectives as soon as possible so that the incident can be properly investigated.
Read the department’s full announcement here.
UPDATE: The Independence Police Department’s initial press release was a draft and contained some errors, according to statements from the department. The department issued a corrected statement, which we have attached here. –LINK nky editorial, Jan. 30, 2024.