Santa Fe mother warns others after man tries to lure daughter into van

SANTA FE, N.M. — The mother of a teenage girl in Santa Fe is warning others after she said a man attempted to lure her daughter into a van after school last week, and police are now investigating the incident.

"She was like, ‘He wanted me in his car.’ Who knows what was going to happen," said Anita Salazar.

Salazar said it happened last Friday afternoon as her 16-year-old daughter was walking home from Santa Fe High School along Siringo Road.

"Everything about this entire situation was just inappropriate and just not correct and I’m just really glad that she trusted her gut," said Salazar.

Salazar found out about what happened in a phone call from her daughter.

"I got a call like 10 minutes later and she was like, ‘Oh my God mom. I think I almost maybe just got kidnapped."

She said a man in a van pulled up to her daughter as she walked down the street and attempted to get her to go with him.

"She’s like, “This man in this van he just like rolled up on me. He was old and he was so drunk. He smelt terrible.’ And she goes, ‘He was moving and he needed some help moving heavy furniture and he told me that if I helped him he had some marijuana for me and he had some vodka.’ And my daughter was like, he showed her like the little 99 Bananas, you know, something that would definitely like lure kids."

Her daughter refused and the man sped off. Salazar said he didn’t get out of the van or physically try to force the teen inside.

But Salazar said he made her daughter extremely uncomfortable and it was concerning enough they reported it to police.

"I mean, for one, you don’t just offer kids marijuana or booze on the side of the road and he was so intoxicated and he was driving around. She had a backpack on so she definitely looked like a student. As you can see there are tons of kids that are walking around here. It’s a huge neighborhood."

Salazar is not sure if it was an isolated incident or if the guy will do it again. But Salazar wants to share what happened so other teens in Santa Fe are aware at all times.