our hero

This is my 10 year old nephew, Luke.  Last Tuesday night he outsmarted and outran a would-be kidnapper.  To say that we are grateful Luke is safe is about the biggest understatement there is.  We have always known Luke is awesome, but after his courage and bravery, he is our hero.

In the words of my brother, Greg:

Last night around 6:00 PM,  Luke was riding around on his scooter.  Beckie told him to be home in 10 minutes for dinner.  The time came and went and Luke still wasn't home.  Beckie just assumed he'd lost track of time.  As more time passed, Beckie got nervous and went out to try and find him.  I got home around 6:40 PM and Cate told me that Luke was missing and that Beckie was out looking for him.  I immediately got back in my car and started driving around the neighborhood.  
 

At around 7:10 PM, Beckie saw Luke walking along our fence carrying his scooter and helmet.  When she pulled up he was sobbing and shaking, saying he was sorry he hadn't come home sooner but that "a man had scared him" so he'd been hiding.

Once we got him inside and made sure he was OK, he told us that as he was riding his scooter (probably no more than 100 feet from our house) a guy in a dark car pulled over to the side of the road.  This guy got out of his car, smiled at Luke and asked Luke if he would help him find his dog.  Luke didn't say anything.  Luke said the stranger then got angry and said, "Get in the car now!"  At that point Luke got on his scooter and started riding as fast as he could away from the stranger (which, unfortunately, was in the opposite direction of our house). 

Luke said the stranger started chasing after him and shouted (according to Luke), "get your (swear word) back here or I am going to beat the (swear word) out of you."  

Luke continued to ride his scooter away from the stranger and then circled back toward our house down a different street.  However, instead of riding back to the house, Luke rode right past the house to the spot where the stranger had initially approached him.  (He later told us that he didn't want to go back home in case the stranger was still following him.  He thought that once the stranger found out where he lived, he might break in and hurt the rest of his family.)  

Luke jumped off his scooter, folded it up and hid in some bushes near the road.  After he had been hiding for about 30-45 minutes, and as it started to get dark, Luke decided it was safe to walk home.  It was at that point that Beckie saw him walking down the road.     

    

What all that doesn't say is the terror my brother and sister-in-law felt for an hour, not knowing where their son was.  It doesn't mention the phone calls my brother made to family for help and prayers when they couldn't find Luke anywhere.  It doesn't say that the other children were at home, in tears, knowing their brother was missing.  My brother didn't go into details here about thoughts racing through his mind as they called Luke's name and there was no answer.  It doesn't explain that it was getting dark and then what?  It doesn't describe the tears and relief that came when they saw Luke again and knew that he was okay. 

This is my worst nightmare--one of my children being taken away by a stranger.  Luke had been taught that adults NEVER need help from kids.  As he quickly contemplated how to handle the situation, he knew the best thing to do was get away.  He said Heavenly Father helped him ride really fast without crashing.  We believe in prayers, angels, and miracles and credit those to Luke's safe return home. 

Jake and Luke, Colorado August 2013

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