A single woman with a young daughter decided to join an online dating site. Being all new to the internet and the online dating scene she followed her heart when creating her account. She never dreamed that there could be any harm or danger and these sites must screen their members. She was totally honest with what she wrote about herself. She listed her true city she lived in, the job she held, and even children and pets she had. Then came the picture part of her ad. She picked a picture of herself that was most current. Deciding she wanted to continue being honest she proudly added a picture of herself and her 6 yr old daughter and the family dog. Once she had her ad all set she went ahead and posted it.
Barely 2 weeks later she had this very handsome, professional man e-mailing her. She was amazed at how kind he was and truly thought he was the man for her. He stated though that he was over 500 miles away from her but was still interested. To her credit though he was so perfect she was still cautious after several friends told her to be careful. First he wanted to talk to her on the phone and asked for her number. Now they had only been talking about a week so she explained she needed a little more time. He agreed but still occassionally tried to persuade her. Within a week more he said he was feeling a lot toward her and wanted to come see her. Again she declined asking him to be patient. She told him she really liked him but wanted to give it some time. He was less understanding this time and made some comments that made her feel uneasy.
Well after a month's time she realized he wasn't all he said he was. She started avoiding him and not reply to his e-mails. He got pissed and showed it in the subject line of e-mails because she started just deleting them. She was really scared and finally decided to delete her ad form the dating site. Things were quiet for about a week or so. Then one day she opened her personal mail and saw an e-mail with the subject line. "You think you can hide?"
She had saved up all the e-mails and such when he started getting crazy and she told a friend about it. They decided on Monday they would talk to her lawyer and the police. (This was on a Friday night.) That evening she took her daughter to the movies with another woman and her daughter. While at the mall she noticed a man at the coffee stand. When the man turned to walk away pure fear raced through her. It was him, or was it? How could it be he said he lived 500 miles away? She tried to turn away and hurry into the theater but it was too late he saw her. He glared at her insanely but as she turned to her friend to tell her he vanished.
Shaken but still not sure and not wanting to dissapoint her daughter they went to the movie. They got out when it finished, no sign of him. Maybe she just thought it was him. They drove home with nothing strange happening and went to bed. During the night the dog awoke and wanted to go outside. Not thinking about it and knowing the dog had done this before she let him out. She waited and waited but he never came back. She was in panic and called her friend. She told her friend about the mall and they called the police.
With all the info and a picture of the guy the police started checking into it. The next morning the woman got an e-mail again from him. She opened it and he simply said... "How easy it was to get your dog... your daughter will be even easier." Now imagine the terror she felt. Again calling her friend and the police with this new information.
Turns out he was a registered sex offender. Fortunately enough he wasn't an intellegent one. They were able to trace back his e-mail ip address and find out who he had internet service through and then where he lived. Within 2 days he was in jail. Thankfully he never harmed the dog. The man ended up going back to jail for kidnapping the dog, harrasement, and a few other things they could throw at him.
What the woman learned was how easily someone can be someone totally different than what they say they are online. She learned that stretching the truth about things like location, job and family until you really know someone isn't lying it's just plain smart. She knows now that life is hard enough on our children and that she doesn't need to make it harder.
Six months later with the help of her friend she tried the internet again. I'm proud to say that with a new approach and using safe measures she did meet a wonderful guy. They took it slow, used public places to meet and with friends, and after a year relationship got engaged and married. So there basically can be happiness and sincere people online... but there are even more freaks, predators, and dangers than we realize. So please think before you shre your life on the internet... it's only common sense.
Well, hope I didn't freak you out. That basically is the story in the letter form that our local police dept shared with our community. It happend almost 5 yrs ago but plenty of us remember and share it with others in hopes of keeping more people safe. It's not that you should curl up and hide... just we want people to think safe and make safe choices.
