Suspicious Car Near School Playground Has Kiefer Parents On Edge

Some Green Country parents are on edge after a suspicious man was seen taking pictures of children on an elementary school playground.

Kiefer Police said a witness told them the stranger was luring students to his car.

Now, the police chief said his officers will be on the lookout, they want to know who the man was, what he was doing at the school and most of all, why he was snapping pictures of young children playing outside.

With no more than 2,000 residents, Kiefer is place where most people feel pretty safe.

“Everybody here watches out for everybody else, it's a great, little town,” said Kiefer Police Chief, Johnny O'Mara.

However, Tuesday afternoon there was a scare at Oliver Elementary. O'Mara said a man was parked near the playground, where six to eight-year-old students were playing.

“He tried to lure some of the children over to the fence and once he was at the fence, he was encouraging them to come over the fence,” O'Mara said.

The chief said one of the town's alert citizens noticed the commotion, felt something wasn't right, and then walked up to the car.

Police said the woman found a man behind the wheel taking pictures of the children. When he saw her, she said, he sped off. Police said the students told officers they did not know the man.

“Our number one concern, of course, would be a child abduction. It could also be a non-custodial parent trying to interfere with a custody order. There's a myriad of possibilities that it might be,” O'Mara said.

Whatever the reason, the chief said it's causing a lot of suspicion for him and parents.

“It's not right. It's very discomforting,” said a Kiefer father, Andy Heathcott.

He said the school is doing the best it can to keep his sons safe, but he would like to see the district hire a full-time officer.

“You always want to believe your kids are going to be safe when they're at school, and when something like this occurs then it just makes you question what you can do to make it safer,” he said.

While the small town is well-protected, the chief said there's no place safe enough to let your guard down.

“Any place, any town, any city in America is a good place for a creep to come in and try and get a child,” O'Mara said.

In a statement, Superintendent, Mary Murrell said:

"A person in a home near the playground reported seeing a black mustang with a man taking pictures of the children on the playground. The teacher on duty with her class did not observe the vehicle nor anyone taking pictures. The students were questioned and none of them saw any person taking pictures. Our teachers and principal are aware of the situation and we are adding additional security measures to make certain of the safety of our students.

Our notification system has contacted all of our parents by telephone and email advising them of the situation.

As administrators of our school and as parents and grandparents ourselves of students in the Kiefer School District, we put the proper investigation of matters involving the safety of our students first."

Police did say teachers were on the playground and confirmed the witness's story and got the children away quickly.

Police said the man was driving a black, Ford Mustang, a 2000-type model.