Father speaks out after Broken Arrow abduction attempt of 7-year-old

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. - Less than a day after two men tried to abduct a 7-year-old girl from her rural Wagoner County neighborhood, her father is urging other parents to be on guard.

"We're out here in the country. That's part of the reason we live here. Because it's safe," father Pete Beeghly said.

The sense of security that brought his family to a rural Wagoner County neighborhood was shattered Wednesday evening when two men tried to snatch Beeghly's daughter near their home on 282nd East Avenue.
    
"She knows what she is supposed to do. She is a fighter," Beeghly said. "I don't know how she got away. She doesn't know how she got away. She just goes, 'I don't know. I just got away.'"

"She did everything that she was supposed to do," said Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert.

He says several other people saw the same dark maroon minivan stalking the neighborhood prior to the attack.

Neighbors tell 2NEWS it had been seen cruising the neighborhood a number of times over the past two months.    

The driver is described as a black man with gray in his hair. The passenger was a white man with blond hair and tattoos.

Colbert says deputies are out in full force, patrolling the neighborhood in case the suspects return. But even with added protection, Colbert still urges parents to be vigilant.
    
"Obviously there is a problem," he said. "There have been three different incidents in the last couple of days in the Wagoner and Tulsa County area. So everybody need to be on their toes. Watch their kids."

At this point, officials say the Wagoner County case doesn't appear to be connected to two reported attempted abductions in Tulsa earlier this week.

Beeghly says now is the time for all parents to talk with their kids about being cautious with strangers.

"If they are going to be out and about, they need to be together - three or four of them together - not one or two," he said. "And they need to watch each other's backs or their friends will be gone."

Patrols will remain high in the area for at least a few more days.

Deputies want to put the suspects men behind bars. If you have any information that might help, you are asked to call the Wagoner County Sheriffs Office Tip Line at 918-485-7799.