Incident irritates town

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Horror scenarios are circulating. The fact is: the police confirm the incident, but the attempt failed.(Bild: Jürgen Radspieler)

The police have confirmed that they are investigating a possible attempted child abduction in Lower Austria. But the rumor mill is now heating up: there is a lot of information due to the central location. Now, however, pseudo-observations, rumors and conjecture are mixing into a cocktail of uncertainty and fear. 

Many people remember the warnings of worried mothers: "Never go with someone you don't know and don't get into a strange car!" Most of the time, especially in earlier times, there is talk of black panel vans in which the victims were abducted.

Economical information tactics fuel rumors among citizens
In Oberhausen, a district on the outskirts of Groß Enzersdorf in the district of Gänserndorf (Lower Austria), one such incident was reported. The police decided to start a more extensive investigation: parents and teachers were questioned, camera footage was analyzed in detail and children and possible witnesses were asked for information. For example, those construction workers who were demonstrably on site at the time - but who were not the child's rescuers, as the rumor mill reported.

In connection with the apparently very credible statements of the child concerned, the police recommended to the local primary school management that a warning letter including cautionary tips should be distributed to the parents in any case. However, in order to avoid falsifying information, only the most important facts were given.

We ask you to talk to your children about the incident and give them rules of conduct. However, there is no advantage in including invented horror scenarios: This creates even more panic in the town.

Tipps an die Eltern

Police hold back on investigations, more patrols
But that didn't quite work out: even in the village, which as mentioned has already become a smaller area on the outskirts of Groß-Enzersdorf, the flow of information in the still "local" life there is lively, but not always reliable - especially when it comes to kidnapping with dark vehicles. As a result, much of what is circulated does not correspond to reliable information. However, the Lower Austrian police issue a serious warning: the attempted kidnapping did take place! "We have therefore instructed our local colleagues to intensify patrols."