The mother of a Grangerland area boy says someone attempted to abduct her 11-year-old son at his bus stop Monday morning, and the Conroe Independent School District not only failed to warn other parents, they are punishing her traumatized son for missing school that day.
Wanda Meza was at work at the Subway Sandwich Shop on FM 1485 at Old Houston Road when her son Ricardo came running inside crying hysterically. Meza kept asking her son what was wrong and when he finally calmed down enough to respond, he told her two men tried to kidnap him while he waited for his school bus at the end of their street, several blocks from her job.
“From the end of our road to my work, he ran, and that’s a 35 to 40 minute walk,” Meza said.
She knows how long it takes to walk the distance because she is without a vehicle and walks to work.
Ricardo Meza is a small 11-year-old, but very smart and very observant.
“I walked out of the house around 7:54,” he said. “I was at the bus stop, and two guys pulled up whenever I was alone.”
Ricardo was alone because he missed the bus last week and was afraid it would happen again, so he got their early. Also, his sister was sick at home. He says the men arrived about five minutes after he reached the bus stop.
“They pulled up and told me to get into the car, and I said no, and whenever I went to run my backpack swung forward and the passenger punched me in the back,” he said, “And when I went to run home cause my sister was still there, and she was sick, they said they know where I live – so I went to my mom’s work.”
Ricardo says the men were in a Toyota with black trim around the wheels and new rims. He describes it as “really nice.”
He says both the driver and passenger were wearing regular blue jeans. The passenger was wearing a black shirt with green sleeves, four rings on one hand, had brown hair and hazel eyes, and was “barely” growing a beard. Ricardo said the driver was in his early forties, had a full beard and black hair with some white and gray mixed in.
According to Ricardo, he got a good look at both because they pulled off the roadway onto the grass where he was standing, waiting for his bus. He said nothing like that had ever happened to him before. Nevertheless, he got away and ran to safety.
Meza was shocked to learn her son nearly became an abduction victim, but she had another shock coming when she contacted Conroe ISD, whose response has been minimal. They took the information over the phone and sent a school district police officer, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office also sent someone to take a report, but Meza said that was the end of their concern.
She called the school and the principal was out, so she spoke with the vice-principal and at first, she believed appropriate action would be taken.
“He said they would be going over the papers and that he would look into it, and it’s been four days now and there’s not been a letter sent home to any of the parents in this community saying a child was almost kidnapped and was assaulted,” Meza said.
When it became apparent to Meza the district was not going to alert the community, she contacted them again.
“The Director of Education Elementary Department said she looked over the case and did not feel that it was necessary to send out a statement to the community,” Meza said. “I asked why and she just went back to the same statement – they didn’t feel it was necessary.”
But Meza couldn’t disagree more.
“You know, this could be any one of our children – not just mine,” she said. “It really hits home whenever you’re here and you see your children out here playing. You want them to be safe and you expect them to be safe going to wait for the school bus, or anything, and then the school district doesn’t take any effort to let parents know.”
With no help from the district, the frustrated mom has been spreading the word on her own, warning all the parents in her area to watch out for their children.
But Meza’s concern and what she feels is a lack of concern does not end with notification. The school, she says, has refused to excuse her son’s absence that day.
“He was crying hysterically – he was traumatized,” she said. “He was dealing with police reports until 10 or 11. The school is saying it’s an unexcused absence? I don’t think that’s fair.”
The Conroe Independent School District was not available for comment.
On Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office said the two would-be abductors have not been identified. They are asking anyone with information to contact the MCSO Criminal Investigations Office at (936)760-5876.
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