Port Alberni RCMP are investigating a report of an attempted child luring on Monday.
Police said a nine-year-old girl was walking along the sidewalk on China Creek Road about 7 p.m. when a man approached and asked her name, then asked if she wanted to go for a walk with him on the trails in the adjacent woods.
The girl said no and went to a nearby house, where she knew someone, to tell an adult.
The man waited for about a minute, then left the area by walking to 16th Avenue, in the direction of Montrose Street, police said.
Police patrols have failed to turn up a suspect.
“We don’t know what his intentions were, so we’d like to talk to him and go from there,” said Port Alberni RCMP Cpl. Amelia Hayden.
The suspect is described as white, about 20 and five-foot-nine with an average build and short reddish-blond hair. He was clean-shaven with a very pale complexion and was wearing a black T-shirt and black shorts.
Port Alberni RCMP ask anyone with information to call them at 250-723-2424 or Alberni Valley Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
