E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSView more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.
A man narrowly escaped abduction charges after he mistakenly picked up the wrong girl from a New Jersey school.
Courtney Durr was waiting to be picked up by her mom's friend after school in Gloucester City, N.J., on Tuesday. At the same location, Art Deaner was supposed to pick up his friend's daughter, Courtney Fetters.
When Deaner arrived and saw Courtney Durr, who looked vaguely like the girl he was told to pick up, he called for her to come inside his vehicle.
"I told her I was looking for Courtney,'" said Deaner. "And the young girl said her name was Courtney."
"I got off the bus and he pulled up and he asked if there was a Courtney," said Courtney Durr. "I said, 'Yeah.' My crossing guard let me go and I went with him."
Courtney Durr knew she was being picked up by her mom's friend so she reluctantly went inside. There was only one problem: Deaner was supposed to pick up 6-year-old Courtney Fetters, not 9-year-old Courtney Durr.
Deaner hadn't seen Fetters in some weeks and the girl recently got a haircut so he assumed Durr was the Courtney he was looking for.
"My girlfriend called me and said, 'Where's Courtney?'" said Courtney Durr's mother, Pam Durr. "I said, 'Well she's supposed to be at the bus stop waiting for you.' She said, 'She's not here.'"
Also on NBCPhiladelphia.com: Love Letters Found in Sandy Wreckage
Deaner said he started to realize something wasn't right when he talked with the girl about a recent vacation.
"He was like, 'You weren't with Aunt Mary in Maine?'" said Courtney Durr. "No, I would never have been in Maine."
"I know Courtney was in Maine for two weeks," said Deaner. "I had to turn around and take her back. I got the wrong Courtney."
Police, however, were already on his trail. They pulled Deaner over and arrested him.
The crossing guard noticed that Durr went inside a vehicle that she didn't normally go in. Fearing an abduction, the crossing guard recorded Deaner's license number and alerted police. After asking him several questions, however, police say they realized it was all a mix up and didn't file charges.
Courtney Fetters was found safe and sound while Courtney Durr was reunited with her mother.
"I forgive them!" said Pam Durr. "They didn't know any better because they haven't seen her in a while."
There was also a lesson learned.
"Don't go in someone's car when you don't know 'em," said Courtney Durr.
While Deaner had trouble recognizing the right Courtney, he tells NBC10 he'll always remember what she looks like now.
"I won't forget," said Deaner. "I'll take a picture."
Leave a Comment:
Lol
"...I'll take a picture" He was arrested shortly after for taking a picture of a minor.
This is just bad journalism!!! I live ten minutes from where this took place and read all the original articles in the local papers...what this article doesnt mention is that the man who picked up the girl was also with his wife...he was not alone. This article and headline wants you to think that the man was by himself when he picked the girl up and was also by himself when the police pulled him over and questioned him...but his wife was with him and the police instantly knew that this was all a simple case of "mistaken identity" which is how the police put it. Notice how this article dances around that fact...journalism like this belongs in tabloids. It may not change the overall gist of the story...but it certainly paints a different picture in your mind of the events if you imagine this man acting alone or a husband and wife accidently picking up the wrong child...one scenerio seems sinister...the other seems much less so.
What still gets me is, why dont kids ask questions first before getting into some stranger's car?
Kiddos, if you are not sure, ask questions, and just to be 100% sure...call somebody if possible or in this case, the girl should have said something to the crossing guard just as an FYI!!!!
Kids are just crazy...Schools should have abduction awareness courses as a mandatory class throughout the semester!!!!!
And parents should stress to the kids everyday before they step out the door the dangers cozying to strangers in the absence of a parent or caretaker...
We got some looonies out there lookign for loop holes to harm children...
Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart were picked up by couples and they were really abducted. I don't know where you're coming from with this angle.
Whatever happened to the idea of a code word that must be used in order to pick up a child. If he spoke the wrong code word, she may not have gotten into his car, and may well have started screaming for help.
There are lots of ways to help to keep your child safe. This is an old one, but it's effective.
Winter,
All I am simply saying is that the "journalist" knows that it seems much more sinister to read about a guy who "accidentally" picks up the wrong child...why not just be honest and offer the story as it happened and how ALL the local newspapers reported it. A COUPLE accidentally picked up the wrong child...why didn't the author of this story write that a WOMAN picked up the wrong child and neglect to mention that she was with her husband at the time? No, that wouldn't sound sinister. I am not suggesting that a couple couldn't abduct a child, I am saying that the author of this article intentionally left out important information that would have changed the flavor of this story.
At my niece's school, the child's parents have to go inside and speak with the front desk and sign her out. And if they are having someone different pick her up, they have to call the school and give them that person's name, etc. Maybe more schools should do that, so this kind of thing won't happen. This was an honest mistake in this case... and kind of funny. But still.
LMFAO! So let's blame the kids... Damn, you just can't make stupid like this up!
Abductions by strangers are so rare, they make national headlines and stay in the news for years after they happen - like the Duggard and Smart cases Winter pointed out. Stranger abduction is so rare that even innocent non-abductions (like this) still make national headlines.
People need to stop freaking out about one-in-a-billion occurrences and start paying attention to routine issues. A relative w/o custody abducting a kid isn't going to get media attention because it happens several times a day, every day, all across the country. The only time it gets coverage is if something else shocking happens along with it (like granny killing everybody with carbon monoxide because she was losing custody).
What do you mean DAWG POUND? When I was in 3rd grade I went with a friend on a school bus, I don't know what I was thinking and I thought hey I can hang out at her place! Well my dad always drops me off and picks me up and I vaguely remember him telling me to never go anywhere but to WAIT for him at school. DERP on my part, the school was frantic looking for me as well as him and oh boy did I get a yelling from him when we got home after he found me at her home (the school called her family). I knew to NEVER go in someone's car if I don't recognize/know/trust them but I thought hey it's a school bus it must be safe.
I may have been in third grade but I MADE THE CHOICE and I knew what my dad drilled into my head about strangers or going anywhere without him. Children have brains, if you teach them enough about dangers they will ask questions and be cautious!
234r, you must not ever read a newspaper, children are abducted every day! If it were your child I am sure you would be freaking out. Troll!
LMFAO! So let's blame the kids... Damn, you just can't make stupid like this up!
DAWG POUND,
You are a couple of cards short of a full deck.
Not sure what copying and pasting other people's opinions and then lambasting them accomplishes but one thing is for sure, this is a forum...with vast ideas and thoughts about issue; once in a while respect other people's opinions.
You have a bad tendency that is very visible to most of us of playing the holier than thou card...but it is not working son, lately you are more like an ass than the donkey you are.
A couple of months on this blog site does not entitle you to a professorship, if there's anything; you need to get a job...
@PhilCommander
Clearly, it makes a difference to you, but in reality, children are just as likely to be abducted by a single woman or a couple. Your comments say that you know that the journalist meant to paint a more sinister picture, but really, you don't know that, because to me (and at least one other reader), no such inference was received.
I think this is just something that hits a nerve for you, but you should know that it really isn't the big deal you think it is.
scott
Then why did the journalist pick the man to represent the couple? Why not say a woman accidentally abducted a child?
It has nothing to do with the abduction...it has to do with bad journalism. Just answer one question...WHY did the journalist neglect to mention the mans wife was in the car? Do you really find that fact completely irrelevant and uninteresting?
Most kids won't get into a vehicle with a stranger.But for the ones that do the outcome is not usually good.Mistake or not this young lady's mother needs to have a serious talk with her.
PhilCommander wrote:
This is just bad journalism!!!
Boy howdy! You can say that again!
"Durr went inside a vehicle that she didn't normally go in."
"...went inside a vehicle..."
"...didn't normally go in."
Did the 9 year old write this article herself? Or did the 6 year old?
Yeah, some aliens once tried to abduct me and take me back to their spaceship for "experiments"...thankfully the teachers at my school grilled em with the 50 questions and they gave up. They did abduct the principal however...
Winter,
Elizabeth Smart was not abducted by a couple. She was taken from her bed in the middle of the night by Brian David Mitchell. It helps to actually know what you are talking about before posting comments.
My husband was supposed to video tape our daughter, Courtney, in a dance recital when she was about seven years old, and actually video taped the wrong child for the ENTIRE PERFORMANCE. We put the tape in the VCR to watch after we returned home...and my husband said with a big smile "WOW, didn't I do a great job of getting this on tape". I said "Yeah, and if we can find out who her mother is, I am sure she is going to love this". He looked at me with the most blank expression when I told him, "that isn't Courtney". He looked closer, than said something like, "well how could I tell...they're all about the same size with pony tails and wearing the same thing". So I am not at all surprised by this story...when it comes to guys...anything can happen.
So glad everything turned out well, and they found the mistake early, before the little girls mom had to suffer through hours of the gut wrenching panic of fearing your child has been abducted.
Simple solution, be like Frank Zappa and name your daughter Moon-Unit.
or give her a boy's name like Dweezil...Dyna-mo's all ready been taken...hmmm...
KJR,
Your husband sounds clueless. I should know, because, er, I, um... know... someone just like that.
How can I tell who I'm looking at from 50 feet away? And without my glasses, which aren't the right prescription any more and I don't wear... So it's not our fault!:\
@CincyJoe...
Problem is....the video camera had zoom lens and he had zoomed in to show just the one little girl (close up) through most of the performance...once or twice he zoomed out to show all the kids and we got a quick, momentary glance of my daughter (whom I could recognize immediately, even from the distance)...then zoomed back in on the other little girl. And he didn't have any problem with his eyes or wear glasses at the time. They just "all looked the same" to him. It was all good though...we all found it very humorous and still laugh about it. However, in future shows and performances that our kids were in, I did the videotaping for the most part.
@PhilCommander
The man was the one driving and, apparently, the man was the one who directed the child to get in the car. Yes, I do find the fact that his wife was in the car to be irrelevant.
@RIposter,
A 2002 DoJ commissioned study found a grand total of 115 abductions by strangers during 1999 (most recent data I could find with a quick Google search). Compare that to the 200,000+ reported cases of parental abduction in 2010.
I stand by my earlier statement: Abduction by someone the kid knows is 1000x more likely to happen.
J_P_PatchesPal_1 said:
"Simple solution, be like Frank Zappa and name your daughter Moon-Unit."
That's a horrible name. Barf out!
I had a similar situation happen in college when I "accidentally" wandered into the room of my girlfriend's female roommate. Hilarity ensued and from that moment on we all three were dating for quite a good amount of time. God I miss those days....
That is also a Three's Company plot line
I can't get believe your comment was collapsed....humor people...get some!!
hopefully alcohol was not present :)
This must be a slow news day.
It may be a slow news day but think of all the parents who have a way to review with their children about being picked up at school, and the story they can use does not include a kid getting molested and killed. Also think of the positive point where the observant crossing guard noted a license plate when somehing looked fishy, if it had been a real abduction because of the crossing guard it could have had a relatively good outcome.
thankfully it all worked out ok, would the crossing guard have been in the wrong if she/he had questioned the driver since she/he didnt recognize the car?
Kudos to the crossing guard for getting that license plate number. Thankfully, this turned out to be just a case of mistaken identity. It could have turned out so much worse.
My son and I had a "secret code word" should anyone (family, friend, or foe) claim I sent them to pick him up. He would ask the person what the secret code word was and if they didn't know it he was not to go with them. Period. The school was also given a list of names of people who were allowed to pick him up. If they weren't on the list he didn't leave with them. Even his grand parents were required to show ID to school officials when picking him up.
I'm glad that for a change that everything worked out in the end and no one was hurt. All parties involved understand now what can happen when they send someone to pick up a child that isn't theirs what can happen. Ask the child what there last name is at a bare minimum and have a code word that only parents and child would know so this doesn't happen again.
Again, happy everyone is safe!
I'm glad that the crossing guard thought to write down the license plate number of the strange car. If this was for real then that could have saved that little girls life.
instead this guy has an arrest on his record for trying to help out his friend due to hysteria by the police. gender equality my ass.
He was never formally charged with anything, he was simply detained by police for questioning until they very quickly figured out it was all a mix-up. So there wont be anything on his record. The author had a poor choice of words when he said arrested and then later mentioned they didn't file charges. There is a difference.
i3igpete - His being stopped and questioned had nothing to do with gender had all to fo with the fact an obsevant crossing gaurd took down his license and reported it. ANd we have to admit many pedophiles who molest little girls are men...
at i3igpete,
No he doesn't, You don't get an arrest record because a police officer puts you in handcuffs and five minutes later releases you. the only way you can get an acutal police record of arrest is if you go to trial, then the criminal history will state conviction, no conviction etc.
They can put a note or "hit" on your name if you are suspected of doing something or there is an ongoing case of some type being ran on you.
Stop posting wrong info, at least do some research or ask a cop (me) about that.
Glad to hear there were honest peolpe involved, and no harm was done. Still, I wouldn't have someone my child didn't know VERY well, pick her up from school.
"I got the wrong Courtney"
D'oh!
I could so see this happening!
I was once in a small crowd of people where there were a lot of kids around. I had my girls with me. When I decided to move on and leave the area, I put my hand on the back of a brunette girl who was the same size as my daughter and started shepherding her along with me, thinking she was one of mine. I noticed my mistake a second later, at the same time the girl's mother noticed with alarm a strange woman taking her child! If looks could kill, I'd be dead!
I've done that. We were at the zoo and I was chasing after my blonde child only to realize with horror that I was chasing the wrong blonde. Thankfully my husband had our son and the other dad had a good laugh.
I dropped my child off at summer camp one morning and while signing him in another child about the same height had stepped up next to me. I turned didn't look down gave him a big old hug, kissed him on top the head and then realized the kid had a flat top and wasn't mine...........opps
HORRIBLE parenting. I NEVER let someone else pick up my child unless i have introduced them both. These girls could have EASILY been kidnapped
They were introduced. He said he hadn't seen the girl in weeks and she had recently had a haircut...
Yeah, although I *know* (for the most part!) what my friend's children look like, I would be hard pressed to pick them out of a crowd of children. Not having a 6 year old or a 9 year old of my own, I don't know if I'd be able to tell the age of an elementary school kid just by looking.
I guess you missed the part about the man knowing the girl whom he was to pick up and that girl knowing him.
It's easier to judge the parents than to read the article.
Oops! Funny, an innocent mistake.
It was an innocent mistake. They happen. Glad it was straightened out. When I was in my 20's, My father dropped me off at a store and told me to meet him in the parking lot of another store when I was finished. I went to that lot, saw my dad's green car, opened the passenger door, got in, and started talking to my father, sitting behind the wheel, without looking at him. Problem was, it wasn't him, OR his car. No idea who the woman was; she just looked at me in amazement as I apologized and got out. Today, I'd be arrested for attempted car jacking or something.
Some years later, I visited a friend in his apartment building. I went out to get groceries at one point and he gave me his key so that I could let myself back in. This was a huge building with many floors, and each floor looked the same. I returned, went to apartment 12, and turned the key in the lock. Problem: I had gotten off on the wrong floor, and walked into the wrong apartment. My friend's key worked in THAT door! Once again, I apologized - this time to a startled looking man who was watching TV in his underwear.
LOL
Had something similar happen at a hotel. Got on the wrong wing of the building ,but the numbers were very similar. Stuck in the card, door opened, I walked in. Freaked out because I KNEW I had left suitcases on the bed and they weren't there. Fortunately I had left the door open and the hotel maid walked in, politely explained I was in the wrong room. The hotel was embarrassed that the key worked in the wrong door when I reported it. Got a free "amenities package" out of the deal though!
I did a similar thing when I was 13. My mom **just** bought a brand new car, and we pulled into a convience store to celebrate with slushies. I went into the store, got the treats.Came out, walked up to a blue car and got in the passenger seat. The driver looked at me horrified, and I was confused for a moment, until I looked thru the window behind shocked lady to see my mom cracking up in her brand new silver luxury car.
So it never crossed this guy's mind to mention the girl's last name?
Thank you! Finally someone with some common sense instead of simply a smartass comment.
Kudos to the Crossing Guard for being vigilant. I think however, if he thought an abduction was taking place, he should have questioned the driver before letting the girl go with the unidentified person.
I am just now getting off the floor after ROFL...Super cool that the mistake was recognized and no charges filed.
This is not in the least bit funny to me. The parents of the girl to be picked up were completely negligent for first having someone ('anyone') pick up their child, someone who the child is not completely familiar with. The daughter should have been told the person's first and last name of the person and been instructed to ask, 'what's your name?'. The person picking her up should've known what precisely what the child would be wearing. The second teh child was in the car, she should've been put on the phone with the mother to assure that the pick up went as planned. SMH!!! I see this as wrong on so many levels...just my opinion. Maybe I'm overreacting, but the errors made here are a bit 'dizzying' for me.
I'm glad you are so perfect. Obviously so much better than the rest of us. Never made one mistake.
Toby, I wonder when common sense and being prudent became a target for sarcasm from you? Robin is not only 100% correct, but is stating the steps any responsible parent with half a brain would have taken.
So... Are you not a parent, or is just that your mental abilities are limited to smarting off to your betters?
Well, Patter123, it's probably the "Holier Than Thou" tone of Robin's 'advice' that serves as a turn off.
Yeah, she's perfect. Yeah she's got a stone in her hand ready to throw.
Today it's that man's honest mistake, tomorrow it's yours.
Am I the only one to see the absolute absurdity of this situation! Yes it was a mix up and all parties can laugh about it now but first of all - what parent sends an unfamiliar friend to pick up a child. I don't care if they hadn't seen her in weeks - if they were close enough to pick her up they are close enough to distinguish her from other children. Next, what kind of crossing guard would just let a child get into an unfamiliar car without questioning it. Lastly, why wasn't this "friend" required to sign the child out from the school, children getting picked up are usually dismissed from the school office or some other location. Glad my child doesn't go to school in that lax district.
After school, children either just leave or wait for their ride. No school office is needed, especially with several hundred children.
"Error" ended up duplicating earlier message.
Not true compulsive...in my child's school all car riders and walkers are taken outside to a designated spot to be picked up. The child is not released until they can identify the person who is there to get them. If it is a person who is not the usual pick up person they are required to go to the front office to show ID and be verified as an authorized pick up person before the child will be released. Some schools do take children's safety seriously.
The mom should have taken a picture of her daughter and sent it to her friend, so when he came to pick her up, he would know exactly what she looked like. What clothes she was wearing, what backpack she had, etc.
The two girls look very much alike. That was stated in the article, as was the fact that the girl he was to pick up had recently had her hair cut. He hadn't seen her since that day.
Sami, good point. With the abundance of cell phones now days, that would be a very easy remedy to an otherwise very scary situation.
rpearlston, you don't get it. If the mom had taken the picture that morning, he would have known exactly what she looked like he came to pick her up. It didn't matter if he hadn't seen her in a while or if she had gotten a haircut. He would have a picture of exactly what she looked like when she left for school that morning.
So if the girl in the picture was wearing a red shirt, and the "wrong girl" was wearing a white shirt, he would have known it was the wrong girl.
30 years ago, this would be a non-story.
You are right. Actually, this is a non-story now, but some dumba$$ yellow "journalist" tried to create the impression the kid was kidnapped just to sell an article.
This sounds like that one Brady Bunch episode...
I personally blame the parents on this, and I'll explain why...
A child should be taught to NEVER, for any reason, get in a vehicle with anyone other than their parents. Not a cop, not a 'friend of the family', no one. If someone is being sent to pick them up it should be someone the child knows and the school should be notified ahead of time. If the child has a cell phone (which many do these days), the child should have a photo sent to them as well. If it's a cop, then the officer can either a) call the parents and have them come to the school or b) have the school call his superior to verify his identity.
Close - when I was a kid in the early 60's (around the age of these kids) my mom had given me and my sister a list of neighbors who we could take a ride from. Worked greatr until one very rainy afternoon I was offered a ride from a neighbor my Mom had forgotten to list, so I was one wet a bedraggled kid when I got home. ANd this neighbor lady met my Mom when she got home from work, told her the story, my Mom was embarassed, the neighbor was laughing and all worked out. The point is I knew lots of people and if the rule was it was ok to go with adults I knew versus adults my mom had okayed.
Hey, its not the guys fault if most young girls are named Courtney!
Back in the day I used to fantasize about picking up a drunk Courtney Cox.
Perhaps names such as Gertrude or Ethel should once again come into vogue.
Of course, had he asked for the girl by using her given AND surname, this would have been avoided.
Doesn't it seem a bit lax for "hundreds" of kids to be wandering outside after school and just being let loose for any pedophile to grab - they could have a field day! Just sayin'
If you knew the town you would not be surprised. It's a very small city, most students just walk a block or two home. It's also the place where the toothbrush was invented. (If it was invented anywhere else, it would have been called the teethbrush!)
In Florida, when a child is enrolled in a school, the parents also fill out a list of authorized persons to pick-up their child. Other family members, friends and such. Visiting family/friends (people they trust with their child) can be added anytime. Parent/s can also remove people from that list if they feel the need to do so. Children expecting a pick-up gather with an Attendant outside and wait there. School Supervisors/Attendants have that list on hand and verify the persons I.D. before releasing the child.
It's a little slower, but much safer for the children.
Every one really lucky everything turned just fine, we can all look back and barrow a whole bunch of trouble on this but thank God no-one has to look back and wonder all is fine in new jersey.