Skip navigation
sponsored by 

Missing teen forced into car, video shows

'Individual sprinted up behind her and pushed her,' officer says

MSNBC video
Teen's parents speak
June 5: Missy and Greg Smith, parents of missing teen Kelsey Smith, talk with MSNBC's Contessa Brewer about the search for their daughter.

MSNBC

Video: Crime & courts  
Lockup Pendleton Juvenile Extended Stay: Under Pressure
As one of the largest maximum-security juvenile prisons in the country, Pendleton is responsible for educating and rehabilitating teenage gang members, sex offenders and juveniles with mental health issues for the Indiana Department of Correction. And on any given day inside the razor wire fences, anything can happen. During our 6 months inside, we learned some days can be even more chaotic than most...As one official says, "When it rains, we don’t have enough buckets.

updated 3:55 p.m. ET June 5, 2007

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A surveillance video shows a missing 18-year-old being forced into her car at a Target store where she had stopped for an errand over the weekend, police said.

Kelsey Smith, who graduated from high school less than two weeks ago, left the store Saturday evening and put packages into her car when someone ran toward her, police said.

"As she opened the driver's side door, the individual sprinted up behind her and pushed her into the car," Police Capt. Tom Fredrickson said.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement

Police were working to enhance the quality of that video, which has not been released because it is so poor, Detective Matthew Bregel said.

Overland Park police did release another video of Smith walking into and out of Target and of a man they called a "person of interest," Detective Bob Miller said. Police had received several tips and Miller said he was confident police would identify the person of interest Tuesday.

Investigators have said they don't know if Smith was picked at random or abducted by someone she knew.

About two hours after Smith disappeared, her grandparents found her gray 1987 Buick in a parking lot at a nearby mall with her purse and packages still inside.

Miller said Tuesday the Smith family was holding up "as well as can be expected."

"I talked to the dad early this morning," he said. "They're starting to crumble a little bit because we're past the 48-hour window. He knows the urgency and the gravity of the situation now."

Smith had been expected to attend a pool party with her boyfriend and then go to dinner to celebrate their six-month anniversary Saturday night.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links

Resource guide

Get Your 2008 Credit Score

Find a business to start

Try for Free

Search Jobs

Find Your Dream Home

$7 trades, no fee IRAs

Find your next car