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Woman Films How A Creep Left A Water Bottle On Her Car, Another Woman Explains It’s A Tactic Used By Human Traffickers
Two women’s TikTok videos about staying safe are going viral and it’s quite shocking how scary the world can be at times. Haleywestco, aka Haley West, explained what happened to her outside a supermarket and it’s raising a lot of eyebrows.
In her video, Haley from Cincinnati details her incredibly weird interaction with a suspicious creepy guy who seemed like he was hitting on her while she was parked in her car. But he might have had very nefarious purposes in mind. Haley felt weirded out, so she went to a store to hide. When she came back, however, there was a water bottle perched on the hood of her car. Sounds innocent, right? Not so much.
Another TikTok user, Ellessb423, aka Elle, claimed that putting a water bottle on someone’s car is a tactic that some kidnappers and human traffickers use. She warned people not to get distracted and to leave the bottle be and to just drive off—the bottle will fall off on its own. How Elle knows about this tactic is on a lot of people’s minds; she mentioned having been in contact with kidnapping and trafficking survivors and goes into more detail about this in her follow-up videos which you can find on her TikTok channel. Meanwhile, we’ve reached out to Haley to hear more about her situation.
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Haley shared a bizarre story about how a suspicious guy ended up leaving a water bottle on the hood of her car
Haley recounted what happened with the man: “I’m leaving Fresh Thyme and I’m parked in this big parking lot. This guy was walking like kind of close to me, kind of not, but you could tell he was, like, staring at me while he was walking, and he yells over to me like, ‘Hey what’s your name?'”
“This man walks right up to my car and he’s like, ‘Come check out my car, it’s nice, it’s a Lexus, you like it?’ Like it’s my car! Though, I didn’t react to that, because that would have given away that it’s my car, although I think he already knows.”
That’s when Haley decided that she didn’t feel comfortable. She went to a nearby store, got some help, and made darn sure that the guy wasn’t in the parking lot anymore. “I then went across the street to this TJ Maxx. I got help, I made sure he wasn’t still out here.”
That’s when she saw the water bottle on the hood of her car. She warned everyone to be aware of their surroundings at all times.
“When I came back out there is a water bottle on my hood. I don’t want that to correlate but that’s never happened to me. I just wanted to say be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially if you’re a woman, be careful out there.”
You can watch Haley’s full video right here
@haleywestco##saftey ##ohio ##cincinnati ##becareful♬ original sound – Haley West
Elle went into detail about Haley’s situation and what it meant
Meanwhile, Elle explained what could be hidden behind Haley’s experience. “This is a tactic used by traffickers and kidnappers to get you to exit your vehicle and take whatever is on top of the car.”
Elle also suggested that, if you feel threatened, you should drive to a police station or even an auto-body shop so they can check to see if anyone’s attached a tracker to the bottom of your car.
“If you feel extremely threatened by a person who’s following you, drive to a police station or an auto shop, they can look underneath your car and see if there are trackers there. Yes, believe it or not, GPS trackers can be put on the bottom of your car and they can give out your location for a certain amount of time. Never go straight home.”
Now, that might sound a tad paranoid or even fantastical, but Elle pointed out that GPS trackers are a real thing (it’s not just something that we see in movies and on TV after all).
“Traffickers don’t care how old you are, they don’t care what you’re wearing they don’t care about your size, if they want you, they’ll try to get you. Always be aware of your surroundings, try to go shop with a friend, I know it’s hard during COVID, keep pepper spray or a protective device on you. Please stay safe,” Elle warned.
Previously, Bored Panda wrote about how some criminals leave messages around their potential victims’ homes. You can read about that right here.
Not all theories about kidnappers’ and criminals’ tactics are true, however, and some of them have been proven to be internet hoaxes. For instance, officers debunked the theories that zip-ties around safety mirrors or flannel shirts on the windshield are traffickers’ ways to distract their targets. The police pointed out that traffickers don’t warn their victims. That’s what makes them so dangerous.
Watch Elle’s TikTok video in full right here
@ellessb423##stitch with @haleywestco Be safe ladies. ##safty ##saftytips ##womensupportingwomen♬ original sound – Elle
Here’s how people reacted to the two videos
What did you think of Haley and Elle’s videos, dear Pandas? Were you aware that some kidnappers and traffickers might use tactics like this? Have you ever had something like this happen to your car? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below.
What do you think ?
Not Proud British 3 years ago
Ok just Googled and most kidnappings are not by strangers, they are usually under 18s, aka children and taken by estranged parents but there is a huge increase in native American women disappearing. For white American women, this is not a common issue. Also, it doesn't state who Elle is and how she knows kidnapping tactics. When I google this one, just this story comes up. So I actually think that this is a scare tactic. I don't deny this happened, but I doubt that leaving a bottle on the hood of a car is a sign you are about to be kidnapped. If the man had wanted to do that, he would have taken her right there and then?
Alphabet Soupy 3 years ago
Honestly, a lot of these are spread by people who are afraid of “strangers,” those who don’t look or speak like them. Some influencer has posted videos (of course) detailing how their baby was almost kidnapped, except it turned out it was two Hispanic grandparents speaking about their own grandchildren. I haven’t lived in Europe but the US doesn’t really have a “communities are good” mindset, they’re so tribal and suspicious of everyone else’s intent when the majority of ppl just want to get through the day.
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Casey McAlister 3 years ago
Honestly, it sounds a bit like a scary urban legend. I don't doubt there are a lot of creeps and perverts around us, but sex traffickers using bottles to lure victims sounds like a really weird and ineffective tactic.
Anne Reid 3 years ago
A few years ago, the urban legend featured pieces of paper on the windshield. The kidnapper would jump in your back seat when you got out to grab it. No cases of it actually happening, of course.
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Ripley 3 years ago
Yeah, I'm really not so sure . . . There have been warning stories about how people are lurking behind every corner to kidnap random women. They never seem to turn out to be true. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/zip-ties-cars-mailboxes/
Stille20 3 years ago
Kidnap, probably not, rape or even more likely rob, yes. So it's good to be aware of your surroundings.
Load More Replies...
Not Proud British 3 years ago
Ok just Googled and most kidnappings are not by strangers, they are usually under 18s, aka children and taken by estranged parents but there is a huge increase in native American women disappearing. For white American women, this is not a common issue. Also, it doesn't state who Elle is and how she knows kidnapping tactics. When I google this one, just this story comes up. So I actually think that this is a scare tactic. I don't deny this happened, but I doubt that leaving a bottle on the hood of a car is a sign you are about to be kidnapped. If the man had wanted to do that, he would have taken her right there and then?
Alphabet Soupy 3 years ago
Honestly, a lot of these are spread by people who are afraid of “strangers,” those who don’t look or speak like them. Some influencer has posted videos (of course) detailing how their baby was almost kidnapped, except it turned out it was two Hispanic grandparents speaking about their own grandchildren. I haven’t lived in Europe but the US doesn’t really have a “communities are good” mindset, they’re so tribal and suspicious of everyone else’s intent when the majority of ppl just want to get through the day.
Load More Replies... Casey McAlister 3 years ago
Honestly, it sounds a bit like a scary urban legend. I don't doubt there are a lot of creeps and perverts around us, but sex traffickers using bottles to lure victims sounds like a really weird and ineffective tactic.
Anne Reid 3 years ago
A few years ago, the urban legend featured pieces of paper on the windshield. The kidnapper would jump in your back seat when you got out to grab it. No cases of it actually happening, of course.
Load More Replies... Ripley 3 years ago
Yeah, I'm really not so sure . . . There have been warning stories about how people are lurking behind every corner to kidnap random women. They never seem to turn out to be true. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/zip-ties-cars-mailboxes/
Stille20 3 years ago
Kidnap, probably not, rape or even more likely rob, yes. So it's good to be aware of your surroundings.
Load More Replies...
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