Ponte Vedra parents are on high alert. So is the St Johns County Sheriff's Office. That after Action News has learned a possible child predator may be lurking.
The dad of two young girls alerted police after his five-year-old daughter was approached by a man in a white pickup truck in Austin Park, a Nocatee subdivision.
The St. John's County Sheriff's Office says that man asked her if she was lost then told her to get in the truck and he would help her get home.
At that point, investigators say the older sister grabbed the five-year-old and they ran to a friends house.
Action News obtained a copy of the alert that the Nocatee Community Manager distributed to neighbors.
It's warning everyone of a suspicious man that approached young kids in a truck when they were playing outside. Deputies are now sending out a warning too.
While neighbors are now nervous, we're told this is a community that watches out for everyone's kids, not just their own.
"I actually make sure there is nothing abnormal going on in the neighborhood," said neighbor Jolene Bianciella. "If there is somebody in the neighborhood that I don't recognize the vehicle I usually have a pen and a paper in the garage and I write it down, the tag number. Unfortunately, yesterday I was not home at the time that something happened."
The suspicious vehicle is described as a white pickup with some type of work equipment in the truck bed. The sheriff's office has been combing the area but hasn't found a truck matching that description.
Parents say this is a very safe subdivision. There are several police and retired police officers that live here and they have been keeping a close eye out as well.
Anyone who may have witnessed any information relating to the male driver or vehicle described is asked to contact Detective Shannon Andrews with the Special Victims Unit at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at (904) 209-3998.
