A Webster email alert was sent out to all students, faculty and staff on the Webster Groves campus the morning of September 1. The alert notified the campus of two men escorting a Webster student to their car and driving her around the area, before releasing her unharmed.
Later that day, a second alert was sent out saying that new information gathered from the student found she was never in danger and her initial report was withdrawn.
According to Director of Public Relations, Patrick Giblin, the initial report stated three students reported to Webster University’s Public Safety that a fourth student texted them saying she had been kidnapped at approximately 1:30 a.m.
Webster Groves Police Department (WGPD) was contacted and Public Safety checked the missing student’s dorm room and the area around the library.
Originally, the student told police she was in the Quad area behind Emerson Library after 1 a.m. with two friends when she was approached by two men, one wearing a green shirt and the other a dark hoodie, who said they needed to speak to her.
Giblin said her friends left and the men grabbed her arm, walked her to Plymouth Avenue and placed her into the back seat of a gray four-door vehicle, possibly a Chevrolet. She said the men drove around Webster Groves for about 10 minutes, and she was able to send the text messages during that time. The men let her exit the vehicle in front of McDonald’s restaurant near the corner of Big Bend and Garden Ave.
No weapons were used by the two men, Giblin said.
The WGPD saw the student walking southbound on Edgar Road approximately 30 minutes after the incident was reported.
The student reported she was not assaulted during the incident. She refused medical attention and campus counseling.
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