MAGNOLIA, Texas – Montgomery County deputies are searching for a suspect connected to an attempted child abduction in the Woodland Oaks subdivision.
At around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the corner of Wiley Drive and Grant Drive, a school bus dropped off two students. One of the students noticed a white truck following him. The truck reportedly pulled up alongside him and yelled at the boy to get in. The boy then ran down the street looking for help.
Deputies said the teen knocked on a neighbor's door, but there was no answer. He then hopped a couple of fences, ran through a wooded area eventually finding another neighbor, Cody Krouse, cleaning his truck.
Earlier that day, Krouse said he spilled tea in his truck as he was driving home from school.
"I was like, 'Gosh dang it, now I have to go home and clean this out,'" Krouse said.
Krouse added that he had also seen the suspect's truck.
"I noticed a truck, a white truck with racks and a ladder on it, and it drove down the road and it came back real slow back this way," Krouse said.
Fifteen minutes had passed since Krouse said he saw the truck when the young boy ran up to him with a panicked look on his face.
"He just looked at me and was like, 'Hey man I need some help. Someone just asked me to get in their truck,'" Krouse said. "The look on his face and how big his eyes were, and (he had) scratches (down his arms), he said he jumped over a couple of fences and ran through the woods and lost his bag. And I was like, 'Yeah man, I'll help you.'"
Neighbor Tracy Ramos' surveillance cameras caught footage of the white truck.
"I think it was pretty bold of this guy to come into our neighborhood like he did and try something like this," Ramos said.
Krouse said spilling that tea made his day just that much sweeter.
"Man, I don't know what he'd be going through if I wasn't out here," Krouse said.
Deputies have a very vague description of the suspect: a long beard and a dark shirt.
On Wednesday, during drop-off at Wiley and Grant, deputies were out making sure the kids getting off the bus were safe.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division at 281-297-6510 or Montgomery County Crime Stoppers 800-392-STOP (7867). Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 cash reward for information leading to an arrest or indictment.