Two Valencia County girls who told authorities a man tried to abduct them have come clean, Sheriff Rene Rivera told the Albuquerque Journal.

The girls admitted making up the stories after one of their friends told police of a man who approached her in a black pickup truck as she was walking home from a school bus stop a few weeks ago, Rivera told the Journal.

"Apparently they did it for attention," said Rivera, who added that despite the money and effort spent on tracking down an imaginary predatory, the girls will not be charged.

"Kids are going to be kids, and the parents are going to discipline them," said Rivera. "It's a big relief. ... It was a lot of time wasted, but in the same token, I'm glad that it wasn't a predator."

1:30pm 5/19/08 UPDATE: Officials now believe that at least two of the three girls who were reportedly the victims of an attempted abduction over the past three weeks were lying, Valencia County Sheriff Rene River told KRQE News 13 .

The first girl, a 14-year-old  from El Cerro Mission,  did have contact with a suspicious man back on April 30 but deputies don't believe it was an abduction attempt,  News 13 reported.

Deputies don't believe the other two girls -- an 11-year-old from El Cerro Mission and another 11-year-old from Tome -- were approached by a man at all and were simply copying the first girl's report, according to News 13. 

12:15pm 5/19/08 -- Would-Be Abductor Story Changing: Valencia Co. sheriff's department now says just one girl was approached, not three.

Valencia County sheriff's officials, who said last week there appeared to be three separate attempts by a man driving a black Toyota pickup truck to abduct grade-school-age girls, now are saying only one of the girls had a "suspicious contact," KOB-TV is reporting.

A news release put out this morning by the sheriff's department does not elaborate on why investigators are now discounting two of the three reports, Eyewitness News 4 reported.

Schools increased patrols by resource officers and Bernalillo County investigators and the FBI joined the case last week, KOB-TV reported. 

8:50am 5/16/08 -- FBI Asked To Help Find Would-Be Abductor: Valencia County sheriff says man who tried to snatch three girls "getting more violent."

Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation for help in finding a suspected child predator who has allegedly tried to abduct three young girls since April 30, KOAT-TV reported.

"We're going to get whatever kind of resources (they) can give us to apprehend this man," Rivera told the station. "He is getting more violent and we have to stop him before he hurts someone." 

And, according to Action 7 News, the FBI has agreed to lend a hand by working up a profile and track the patterns of a man described as a Hispanic, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing around 150 pounds, with dark, slicked-back hair, a thin goatee and mustache and acne scars on his face.

The common element in all three apparent attempts -- involving a 14-year-old and 11-year-old girl from El Cerro Mission, and on Monday, another 11-year-old from Tome -- is a black Toyota pickup truck, with tinted windows and a chrome bumper with a dent on the passenger side, according to the latest from the Valencia County News-Bulletin.

Most of the letters on the tailgate had been painted black, except for a "T" and an "O," witnesses told deputies. 

In the first two incidents, the truck was reported to have New Mexico license plate KZQ 179, which authorities later traced to a Volkswagen van in Algodones.

But in the most recent incident, the 11-year-old Tome girl told deputies she was unable to see the license plate because something was covering it up, the News-Bulletin said.

Rivera told the News-Bulletin this week that he has every deputy and detective on high alert with all available personnel patrolling school bus stops in eastern Valencia County, where the three incidents have taken place.

And Desi Garcia, security director for Los Lunas Schools, told the paper that his office and school resource officers are working closely with the sheriff's department by patrolling bus stops and that all school bus drivers are on the lookout for any suspicious activity when they drop off students.

Anyone with information about the incidents or the suspect is asked to call the sheriff's department at (505) 866-2400. 

6:10am 5/13/08 -- Third Girl Escapes Abduction: Valencia County authorities say man tried to snatch an 11-year-old from Tome on Monday.

An 11-year-old girl from Tome told authorities Monday that a man tried to shove her in his black pickup truck at her school bus stop, the third such incident involving young girls in Valencia County in the past two weeks, KOAT-TV is reporting.

The man was reported to be driving a black Toyota pickup truck with New Mexico license plates KZW 179, with the letters "T" and "O" printed on the tailgate, authorities told Action 7 News.

The man in the latest incident was described as being 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with a thin goatee and mustache, acne scars on his face and combed-back black hair, KOAT-TV reported.

Reports of an alleged abduction attempt last Thursday involving an 11-year-old girl from El Cerro Mission described the man as being clean-shaven and as being heavier, weighing about 210 pounds.

But investigators in Valencia County believe the same man has been involved in all three incidents, according to Action 7 News. 

8:35am 5/12/08 -- Valencia Deputies Look for Would-Be Abductor: Two young El Cerro Mission girls approached by a man in separate incidents.

An 11-year-old girl was in the backyard of her home in El Cerro Mission last Thursday when a man suddenly appeared and grabbed her by the right arm, the Valencia County News-Bulletin reported this weekend.

"(The girl) said she turned to look at the man when he pulled her shirt off her body," according to a police report filed last Thursday. "(She) said the man then heard her mother's truck entering the front yard."

That's when the man ran, jumped a fence, felled and dropped the shirt, before taking off toward El Cerro Mission Road, the girl told deputies, according to the News-Bulletin.

The man was described as a Hispanic male, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 210 pounds, with mid-length hair and no facial hair. He was wearing a tan shirt with black dress pants, the News-Bulletin said.

Valencia County sheriff's Deputy Ed Chavez said the girl was upset but not hurt in the incident, the paper said.

While deputies were investigating the incident, they met El Cerro-Valencia Fire Chief James Cook, who told them he saw a man get into a black Toyota pickup truck and that he had heard of a similar incident about a week earlier, according to the News-Bulletin.

The license number Cook was able to take down was checked but came back registered to a 1979 Volkswagen in Algodones, the paper said.

According to an earlier report, deputies were called to the home of a 14-year-old girl in El Cerro Mission on April 30, in which the girl reported being approached by a man in a black Toyota pickup truck while she was walking home from a bus stop, the News-Bulletin said.

The teenager told deputies that the man asked her her name and age and she told him it was none of his business, and she took out a cell phone, which was inactive, but she pretended to dial three numbers, the paper said.

That's when the man took off, the girl told deputies.

The man in that incident was described as a Hispanic male in his 30s, with long black combed-back hair, but with a mustache, the News-Bulletin said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Valencia County Sheriff's Office at (505) 866-2400. 

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