FBI, MCSO investigate possible child abduction in Waddell

WADDELL, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies and the FBI continue to investigate a possible child abduction.

There's been a huge response to this, in fact, students were kept on campus at two schools in Waddell and Surprise for hours on Wednesday.

At this point, the kidnapping report is still unconfirmed, however MCSO says they will continue to work into the night, although they have scaled back their manpower immensely and recently took down their mobile command center.

Again, that kidnapping reported by two children in the area is still unconfirmed, but federal and local law enforcement officers are not taking any chances. They put the two nearby schools on lockdown and searched every single vehicle going in and out of the neighborhood.

The kidnapping investigation put Shadow Ridge High School and Mountain View Elementary School on a modified lockdown, which caused huge delays for parents. As a precaution, kids were kept inside and parents had to show their identification twice. The whole process took about an hour and there were two lines. In the first line, parents had to fill out a form, show identification and then get that verified by MCSO. In the second line, they had to take the form and show their ID again and officials sent up for the children from their classrooms. Then they had to sit in traffic as it was backed up around the Corteza neighborhood as deputies searched every car going in and out of the subdivision. That's where two children reported that they witnessed a kidnapping.

The children are between the ages of 8 and 10 years old. Deputies say their stories were very detailed and consistent.

"To be honest.. for something that happened so fluidly, so quickly, the description they gave was pretty well.. that's another reason why that contributes to what we are doing out here today," said MCSO Deputy Joaquin Enriquez.

So far, deputies have not found any evidence of a child abduction and neighbors are hoping that no child was actually taken.

"This is scary. It's really scary, especially because all of us have kids. Every single house on this block basically has kids and we let our kids out here all the time playing," said Amanda Hughens.

Deputies say they will work into the night, exhausting all leads until they can clear this investigation.

The Dysart School District have been given permission by MCSO to release students, but they must be released to a...

Statement from Dysart Unified School District on their Facebook page:

"MCSO and FBI has requested the Dysart Unified School District release the following information:

Out of an abundance of caution, MCSO and FBI request that school dismissal from Mountain View School and Shadow Ridge High School be delayed. We request that parents and guardians do not come to the school until further notice.

There is currently an ongoing investigation into the reported abduction of a child. There is currently no threat to the schools or anyone at the schools. You are asked for your cooperation in this situation.

The MCSO contact number is as follows 602.876.1011."

Although they continue to investigate, MCSO says there has been no confirmation of a child missing.

If you have any information, please call 911 immediately.