Four-year-old abducted in store, hair shaved, clothes changed-Fiction!

Four Year Old Girl Abducted in Retail Store, Hair Shaved, and Clothes Removed In A Matter of Minutes-Fiction!

Summary of Rumor
The writer of this email says she was standing near a mother and 4 year old girl at a Sam's Club store when the girl suddenly disappeared. Other versions say this happened at Mervyns's Carrefour's. The writer asked one of the employees to announce the missing girl over the public address system. She says he announced a "code something," locked all the doors, and within five minutes found the girl in a bathroom with her head shaved, most of her clothes removed, a bag of different clothes nearby along with a razor and a wig. Somebody was trying to disguise and kidnap the girl. The writer says that the "code" announcement was a "Code Adam" alert, named after Adam Walsh, a boy kidnapped in a department store and killed and whose father went on to create the "America's Most Wanted" television show.

The Truth
This particular story of the four year old found in the bathroom is fiction, but the fact that children are abducted is not fiction. According to National Center for Missing And Exploited Children, it happens more than 100,000 times each year. Also, the "CODE ADAM" procedure for retail stores to respond to a missing child is not fiction. It is being used by companies nationwide in North America including more than 2,500 Wal-marts and Sam's Clubs. Wal-mart says it pioneered the CODE ADAM idea and named it after Adam Walsh, a six-year old who was taken from a Florida mall in 1981 and was killed. His father, John Walsh, went on to become the host of the "America's Most Wanted" show.

Store employees do not lock the doors during a CODE ADAM, but they do have procedures for spreading the word among employees about any possible missing child including a description of the child. They also have employees at the doors watching for anything suspicious and making sure that any children who are leaving the store are accompanied by the rightful adult. If they can't find the child within 10 minutes, the police are called. If they do find the child with anyone other than a parent or legal guardian, they call the police to sift out the facts.

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

Just got this today and it is something we all need to think about. It might even help for you all to be watchful of your fellow shoppers kids when in a large store. There can never be too much attention paid to children. Even if you do not have little kids, pass this one to everyone you can think of. You never know who you might save by sending this email! Please take the time and forward this to any friend who has children &grandchildren.

I wanted to share something that happened today while shopping at Sam’s club. A mother was leaning over looking for meat and turned around to find her 4 year old daughter was missing. I was standing there, right beside her...well, she was calling her daughter and no luck. I asked a man who worked at Sam’s to announce it over the loud speaker for Katie. He did, and let me say he walked right past me when I asked, went straight to a pole where there was a phone and made his announcement right there! He ordered for all doors and gates to be locked, a "code something", so they locked all the doors at once. This took all of 3 minutes after I asked the guy to do this. They found the little girl 5 minutes later, crunched in a bathroom stall, her head was half shaved, and she was dressed in her underwear with a bag of clothes, a razor, and a wig sitting on the floor beside her. Whoever this person was, took the little girl, brought her into the bathroom, shaved half her head, and undressed her in a matter of less than 10 minutes. This makes me shake to no end. Please keep an eye out for your kids when in shopping places. It took only a few minutes to do all of this. Another 5 minutes and she would have been out the door...I am still in shock some sick person could do this, let alone in a matter of minutes. The little girl is fine. Thank God for fast workers who didn’t take any chances. Thanks for reading. By the way, just in case you didn’t know....the "code-something" that the woman in this story heard the clerk talking about is "CODE ADAM"....This was put into place after a real child, Adam Walsh, was abducted and murdered from a department store many years ago. His father, John Walsh, fought for "CODE ADAM" to be implemented in all stores and public places...although, sadly not ALL use it. Walmart was one of the very first to voluntarily implement the "code" system. John Walsh is the creator and host of "America’s Most Wanted" ....this, he does in the hopes of saving any children (and Adults) that he can by getting fugitives off the streets....this, he does because he couldn’t save his own child, but has saved God knows how many children from being carried away from their parents by some sick, twisted, pervert and murderer!