He lay in wait with packing tape

The parents of a seven-year-old Solana Beach girl, who was the victim of an attempted kidnapping on March 23, are speaking out to area residents via an email plea.

The botched abduction occurred at 3:30 p.m. near the girl’s school, Skyline Elementary. The girl’s screaming alerted teachers, parents, and a custodian to run toward the scene, scaring off the perpetrator.

The parents have since circulated an email stating the media has failed to report the entire story as to the dangerous nature of the perpetrator.

“This was not an incident where a man hung out on the fringe of the Skyline campus and attempted to lure the first child he saw,” reads the email. “This man parked in the top Skyline parking lot, walked through the heart of the school, past the front office, and up to the main part of school only 15 minutes after the dismissal bell rang. He tried to wrap packing tape around her head multiple times around. He was also attempting to pick her up and carry her off of campus.”

The parents stated they wanted to share these details to help the community understand how reckless and crazy this person is, and that he is still on the loose.

The parents asked recipients not only to be on the look out for the suspect’s car, but reminded other parents to have the “stranger danger” talk with their children. The parents reported that the suspect said to their daughter, “If you want to see your mommy again you will do as I say!"

“This man was fearless and brazen in his attempt, it is only a matter of time before he does it again,” the parents stated. He reportedly tried to lure the girl behind a garden, right in the middle of the school.

“Tell your children to yell, scream, draw as much attention as you can. This is what saved our daughter!” read the email, concluding with, “Never in our wildest dreams would we think this could happen to us.”

Sheriff’s deputies said the girl’s screaming probably saved her life. The suspect is described as a 6-foot-tall white man in his 40s, with brown hair and facial stubble. He was driving a silver SUV-type vehicle, with a black roof, possibly a late-model Ford Flex.

The sheriff’s department has released a sketch of the suspect based on the descriptions of several eyewitnesses.