More Abduction Problems in Indy--Where is Our Mayor?

Three suburban Indianapolis school districts are responding to reports of attempted assaults or abductions involving students.
    
A 12-year-old student from Lincoln Middle School in Pike Township said he was grabbed from behind by a male assailant Oct. 10 when returning home from his bus stop.
Police plan to get a composite sketch of the suspect, according to Allen Kasper, director of security for Pike Township schools.
 
In a separate incident, a 16-year-old Pike student said she was attacked while walking to her bus stop in late September. The incident is being investigated by city and district police.
 
Lawrence Township Schools had a similar report Sept. 27, said Michael Fishburn, the district’s coordinator of safety and security.
 
A concerned neighbor called police after seeing a man cruising the neighborhood.
 
When police arrived, the man was spotted speaking to a female teen waiting at her bus stop. She told the officer she was afraid the suspect was trying to lure her into his truck. Authorities later questioned the man and found drugs and cash in his vehicle.
 
Fishburn said the district typically lets Lawrence Police notify parents and neighbors if needed.
 
Hamilton Southeastern Schools faced a similar situation earlier this year when a 15-year-old girl reported being raped near her bus stop in Fishers. Rich Hogan, assistant superintendent, said the district worked with the police and sent out a list-serve e-mail.
 
“We don’t want to send anything out that’s not credible,” Hogan said. “If there’s a reasonable certainty that it did occur, we’ll send out (an e-mail) message.”
 
While elementary school children can be counted on to bring letters from school home, middle and high school students aren’t as reliable, Hogan said.
 
In addition to notifying parents, Hogan said Hamilton Southeastern asked for parental assistance in keeping an eye on bus stops. Kasper said Pike has increased its police presence around bus stops.
 
In a broad emergency, all three school systems can use a system to send alerts to parents via phone.
 
“We can get in touch with 17,000 parents in five minutes or less,” Hogan said, later adding, “We want to communicate everything. We never want to be in a situation where we give out too little information.”