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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.'"
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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:
our elementary would have never allowed a stranger to pick up a child without a letter from the parents in the hands of the person picking up and a letter sent in with the child. We have to go inside, sign out and an administrator makes sure things are ok. I have had children in this school for 12 years and even I get questioned if I try to pick up extra kids for a play date. Sounds like the school needs to review their policies.
I'm baby sitting for my son and his wife tomorrow... I have to put my granddaughter on the school bus and also pick her up at the stop after school (she's 6).... I've had to fill out more forms than it took me to get a US Passport... but I'm okay with that.....
Wait a minute, fill out what? And what is wrong with your identification. Or does the child need a note from their parent to be picked up from school? That doesn't make sense because they could just ride their bike home or walk home without you filling out anything.
This story is aggravating to me. Now we have the names and pictures of these girls. To me this shows poor taste and responsibility on the part of the press. They are clearly minors. This is reprehensible reporting!
But he had puppies ...
Why would you ask someone who doesn't know your child very well to go and pick them up at school? That's just asking for trouble. And all children should be taught never to get in a car with someone they don't know well, or someone who isn't on the parents approved list of pick up people (and I don't mean a formal written down list, but a list of people that you verbally instruct your kid is okay). And if you have to use someone who the kid doesn't know well, as is the case here, then by all means a code word should be used.
Yes, this is one of those stories we can all chuckle about now. But many, many times stories like this do not have a happy ending.
Hmmmmm, not too bright is he?
BTW, The crossing guard did a Great Job in alerting police!
I work at a school, and I'm amazed by the number of FAMILY MEMBERS who come to pick up a child from school but don't know the child's last name. I'm not exactly Grandmother of the Year myself, but I do know my grandson's full name.
why would you let your child feel comfortable getting picked up by "friends" any way? That just sets a bad precedence and the kid is lucky it really wasn't a bad guy. A man especially. People are dumb.
My best friend happens to be male and I trust him with my daughter more than I do half my family members, sometimes I had him pick up my daughter when i had to do that little thing called WORK.
The crossing guard told the driver "the coast is clear"
I guess MSNBC is doing the right thing by presenting a scenario that some child molesters may not have thought of until now. When can we expect a how-to story on pipe bomb building?
This is the problem with women letting men around their kids and then you ask the guy to go and pick your kid up? I know it can be tough to be single but for the love of God, be a parent first. Most guys who molest kids have easy access to them.....would love to know the statistics when it comes to being mommy's "friend."
Ya or maybe they already look for similarities to exploit. And the article is just getting the word out in a dramatic way so kids or family will remember it. Or maybe people in general need to be more diligent.
By the way, I was a school ecretary for 24 years and no one got a kid out of school unless I had signed paperwork from a parent and the person came to the office to sign the child out. They also had to show ID, so that we knew they were who was expected. If someone just showed up, I got on the phone to the parent (and believe me) I knew them all before a child was released. But again, there were lots of mommy's with friends!
He didn't get the child out of school. He picked her up at the chaos called parent pick-up.
Is it really this slow of a news day?
To the writers: Doug Shimell and David Chang -
Do you two even know what the word reluctant means???
Hey mom, next time don't have someone picking up your kid they don't know! A woman was supposed to pick her up and she got into a car with a man. Uhhh, really? Nice parenting.
I agree, very neglectful and stupid.
This article is the result of the current state of - instant journalism - this is simply a case of simple human error - and it makes headlines because there are so many "folks" (to say it nicely) out there trolling the bottom looking for anything with a salacious headline -
I feel for the guy - he made a human flub, realized his error in a timely fashion, and yet, he's splashed across the web - I'm willing to bet the young girls are giddy with all the attention they are getting.
To the "journalists" - comments from a free citizen - Get A Life With Purpose
Oh, come on. It's a human interest story and it's a pretty funny one at that. Get off your journalistic high horse and grow a funny bone.
Besides, it sure beats the latest news story of who's been boning whom.
Why not ask for Courtney's last name too?
What an idiot. Good job mom, so glad you can trust old numb-nuts to drive your child around.
HAHA!! Can you imagine the exact moment this guy realized he had the wrong kid?? He had to be COMPLETELY freaked out knowing what was going to happen next and how this whole episode looked to the authorites/crossing guard/etc. So glad everyone's cool with what happened...and that the girl now knows to not get in cars with strange men. you have to admit; it's pretty hilarious. :-)
WOW Courtney..you do look a lot older for a six year old. Well that's because I'm nine stupid!
Your name isn't Courtney Fetters? Close but no cigar pal.
this is news, how?
Does Deaner have an arrest record now? What are the cops responisble doing to clear that?
"who looked vaguely like the girl he was told to pick up"
Not even close! And why did the girl go with a total stranger? This guy is OUT of the carpool!
Thank God he was a good guy!
Indeed - Something overlooked in this story