Seattle police say man tried to abduct 2 kids from after-school program

SEATTLE -- Police are looking for a man who they say attempted to abduct two children from an after-school program Thursday at a Queen Anne Hill elementary school, the Seattle Police Department said Friday.

According to the department, a man approached a staff member at the Coe Elementary School after-school program in the 2400 block of 7th Avenue West around 3:40 p.m. and claimed he was there to pick up two children. The man knew the names of the children, and said he was there on behalf of their father.

The suspect told staff the kids' father was having trouble with his car, and he was there to pick up the children on their father's behalf.

The staff member followed the program's protocol and told the suspect he needed to show ID at the program's office before he was allowed to sign the children out for the day. But the man never went to the office. When some time passed, the staff grew concerned and contacted the kids' father. The father told staff his car had never broken down and he had never sent anyone to pick up his children.

The suspect is a white male in his 40s or 50s, about 5-foot-10 and about 180 pounds. The man was wearing a beige winter coat, a dark beige baseball cap, had gray hair and "squinty" eyes, police said.

Seattle police are following several leads in the case.