Back in early December, I had ventured out to do a bit of late-night shopping. I'm a 31-year-old stay-at-home mother of two young children, so once my husband gets home from work, I like to take some time for myself to go shopping, take a drive, or run errands and do that kid-free. It was around 8:30 PM when I arrived at the Target that I frequent.
Now, I'm by no means a paranoid or anxious individual, but I've taken several courses in human trafficking, and I've done plenty of research on my own, learning to identify the red flags as well as what precautions to always take whenever I'm out in public alone, and especially at night. I carry several self-defense items on my person at all times just in case. I parked directly in front of the store next to a cart caddy and took a mental note of the vehicles that parked nearby—again, just as precautions.
I was taught at a really early age to always be observant of your surroundings, and being a control freak just naturally makes you that way. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary that night, and the parking lot was actually quite empty, most likely because it was a weekday. As I entered the store, I just began browsing like usual, following the natural flow of the store's departments and following the main aisle around.
I had only been browsing for maybe about 10 to 15 minutes when I noticed a young gentleman—mid-20s, I think. He was tall and skinny, dressed in a dirty gray two-piece sweatsuit and dark brown boots. He looked over at me, to which I smiled and said hello, but his facial expression was completely blank.
He looked like he may have been high on something by the look in his eyes, but he didn't really seem to care for my gesture, and he just quickly moved on. At first glance, there was really nothing in particular that alarmed me about him, except that I took notice of the fact that he was just wandering down the main aisle with no cart or basket; his hands were in his pockets, and he didn't seem to be with anyone. I just continued shopping with no second thoughts and made my way to the next department.
Several minutes had passed at that point, and that’s when I noticed a second young gentleman wearing the same exact gray sweatsuit, a similar pair of work boots, and again, no cart, no basket. He, as well, glanced right at me then quickly darted his eyes away when he realized I was looking directly at him. I started to become a bit more alerted at this point but still remained composed and continued browsing.
Another 15 minutes or so had passed, and that’s when a third older man caught my attention. And you guessed it: same gray sweatsuit and work boots, with no cart, no basket, hands in his pockets. I assumed that they were in some sort of work uniform—maybe construction workers—but why weren't they walking around together, and why didn't they have any items to purchase?
At this point, it was really difficult to focus on browsing. I just had a really bad feeling about these three men, and it became clear to me that something was definitely a bit off. Over the next 20 minutes or so, I felt as if I was being monitored by the three of the men, as if they were all communicating my whereabouts as I continued to make my way through the store.
Because each department I entered, it didn't take long for me to notice one of the three men passing by whatever side of the aisle I happened to be in, then making their presence known to me. I stayed completely vigilant while trying not to panic or allow my suspicions to overwhelm me. Something about their presence felt very heavy and dark.
So I decided to test their intentions just to prove to myself that I wasn't overthinking the situation and that the bad gut feeling was definitely valid. I began picking random aisles and traveling back and forth between the departments in a very unorganized and random fashion, just to see if the men would continue to pass by me as frequently as they had been before. With every aisle I popped into, it was just a few minutes later that one of them would make an appearance, staring me down as they passed by.
It honestly felt like I was being surrounded like a wild animal hunted. Even the scariest part of all of this is that they were no longer trying to be conspicuous. Everything instinctual was just screaming at me to get the hell out of there.
I started to grip my cart so tightly, and I figured if they got too close, I could just use the cart to try and push them away or, at the very least, create some distance between us. By this point, I had been shopping for about an hour altogether, maybe a bit over, and I was ready to purchase my items, but I honestly felt too uncomfortable to continue browsing, even if I wanted to. The men had been following me that whole time, and I was starting to become more annoyed, if anything.
Something that I want to add is that the store was pretty empty around this time—one of the main reasons that I really like shopping at night—but that made this particular situation even more unsettling than it already was. Two preteen girls were wandering around by themselves, which quickly caught my attention because the men had bypassed them as well, making similar advances. But, of course, the young girls were seemingly oblivious.
So I quietly and quickly got their attention and asked them to go find their parents and stay. With them trying not to freak me out, at this point, the mother in me was in full-on protection mode. I couldn't imagine having my young children with me this night.
Thank God that they were home safe and sound. As I made my way to the checkout, I noticed one of the men coming up from behind me, walking at a quicker pace this time. So I immediately stopped and turned to lock eyes with him as he approached.
I'm not kidding; I will never forget the darkness that I saw in his eyes and the smirk forming on his face as he nudged my shoulder, continuing to stare me down while walking backward, all while holding on to a sinister gaze as he exited out of the store. I had lost sight of the other two men, and I hated the uncertainty of it all. He made his message clear to me in that very moment.
My stomach dropped, and my entire body began to shake. It was a feeling that I hadn't felt since I was a little kid getting lost in the supermarket—a feeling of desperation. I quickly walked to the checkout and discreetly asked the cashier if I could speak to a manager and told them what had transpired over the last hour, politely asking for a male employee to walk me to my car and for them to alert a member of their security.
When I finally told the manager everything that happened, her face had sunk, as if she had already known about these men. Once I described them, she confirmed that she knew exactly who I was talking about. She expressed to me that several of the female employees had found them unsettling in the past.
Then she reassured me that someone would definitely escort me to my car. She made a report about the incident and said she would alert the authorities. I was still shaking but felt pretty relieved that she believed me and was also showing concern for the other young female patrons in the store.
She took my information, and then a young male employee walked me out to my car. What I saw as I exited the store made me so sick to my stomach, solidifying all of my suspicions: a white windowless van was parked directly behind my car. One of the men was seated in the driver's seat, and the other two were leaning against the side of the van, facing my car, attempting to hide out of view.
I mean, how cliché and obvious can you be? Your license plate might as well read "Ladies Snatchers. " At that point, whatever their intent was, it didn't seem pure.
I pointed them out to the male employee and said, "There they are, that's them! " This prompted all of the men to scurry into the van and speed out of the parking lot without any hesitation. I truly have no idea what would have happened to me if I had walked out to my car alone, and I'm so freaking grateful that I made it home safe and sound and live to tell my story.
Over that following week, I heard that there were several abduction attempts in the shopping center parallel to that Target, and I’m almost certain that it was the exact same individuals. Human trafficking is very, very real; it's a very serious thing, and it can happen to anyone. You really have to watch your surroundings.
I'm a short, medium-sized girl. One day, around the time that I was eight months pregnant, I decided to make a trip out to Target to buy some things. I'm a very cautious person, constantly looking at my surroundings with mild paranoia, which was mostly inherited from my mom, who raised three kids all on her own—so she was always on guard.
I got out of my new car, which I parked a little far from the store entrance for two reasons: I didn't want to get any dents from the other drivers, and I tried to get as much exercise as possible since I was pregnant. As I was walking, I noticed a huge red truck with three men inside of it with the windows down. I assumed that they were just waiting for someone inside the store, but something crept up my neck when I made eye contact with the driver.
I quickly turned away and then immediately began to feel self-conscious—a small girl that was visibly pregnant. I suddenly felt so vulnerable. Up until that point, my pregnancy had been pretty smooth and never really made me feel like a target.
Once I finally got in the store, I started to calm down a bit more, feel a bit relaxed, and went about my shopping. When I left the store, though, I noticed that the same truck was still there. I put my bag in the trunk and got in my car as quickly as possible, then quickly turned it on and drove away.
I noticed in my rear-view mirror that the same truck was also taking off, with the same three men still inside of it. My heart sank. I realized right then and there that they weren't waiting for anyone inside the store.
I got into the lane that could only make a left turn, and they were in a lane that could only go straight, a few cars behind me. I thought, "Great, we're not going in the same direction. " I was just being paranoid.
As I passed the light, now turning, I saw the red truck switch lanes to turn left. I sped up to catch the next light, turning yellow, to put as much distance between them and me. I drove a little faster than usual, but that's when I realized that even if I made it.
. . Home!
They could still follow me there, and I would be going home to an empty house. So instead, I decided to drive past my street, right to a shopping center that had a Starbucks. The drive-thru wraps around the building, so you're not going to be visible to the main road, which I was driving in.
I got into the drive-through and noticed the red truck was going on the road that I just left. They drove past the Starbucks, and I thought, "Good, I'm in the clear now. " As I'm still in the drive-through, I then see the truck pass by again in the opposite direction, almost as if they're looking for me.
I waited in the drive-through for all of the other cars to leave, and I decided to call my sister and tell her I'm heading to her place. I didn't want to go home alone, and my boyfriend wouldn't be home for several hours. As I'm driving to my sister's house, which is about 25 minutes away, my mind just begins to wonder if they had ever caught up to me or what could have happened if these men were following me.
Any possible danger that could have happened to me or my baby made me so paranoid that I didn't even leave my house for the remainder of my pregnancy. By the time I got to my sister's, I was absolutely shaking over it. I had told my sister all of the details and everything that happened.
I never did see the men again or their red truck, and I'd really like to keep it that way. So, this all takes place in August of last year, right before I moved to a different state for school. This story involves myself, 18 at the time, and my sister and cousin, both 14 at the time.
On the day in question, we decided to go on what we like to call an Uzi adventure, where we basically get in the car and pretty much just drive until we find something to do. On this day, we decided to go to a Target, but instead of the one we usually go to, we decided to go to a different one that was in the south end of the city, which we lived near. A little bit of background about the area I lived in: I grew up most of my life just outside of Detroit, but moved to a more bougie area when I got into high school.
The part of this area I lived in was in more of a suburban downtown side, but on the south end, it was pretty well known that all of the weird and dangerous people lived down there for some reason. I still didn't really know why we decided to go to the south Target instead of our usual one. However, we got there, and my sister and my cousin picked up a couple of things for school while I just picked up a CD.
We checked out and went out to the car, and we saw a green Chevy Trailblazer that was now parked right next to my car. I didn't really notice anything unusual, besides the fact that the driver's seat was then reclined all the way back, the window was slightly open, and it looked like someone was sleeping in the car. My sister gets into the passenger seat and my cousin right behind her, and literally the second she got in the car, she said, "Drve!
Drve the hell out of here right now! " I didn't really think too much of it, though, because she didn't really sound panicked or anything, at least not to me. So I did as she said and started to drive.
Once we pulled onto the main road, that’s when she told me that she saw some old man lying in the driver's seat jerking off to people walking past, more specifically children and their moms. My cousin said she saw him too, and we, of course, freaked the hell out and tried to decide what we should do. We ended up pulling over in a Staples parking lot and sitting there trying to just decide if we should call the cops or not.
My sister was crying at this point, having an anxiety attack because she thought that she'd get in trouble with our parents for calling the cops. I eventually convinced my cousin to just put in a call report because my sister was still crying about not wanting to call the cops, and I really suck at phone calls, so it was really just best if my cousin did it. Maybe about a half an hour later or something, right after the incident, we got a call from the police, pretty much telling us that they found him in the car with his pants off and his tic tac out, and that since he was a repeat offender and did this apparently extremely often, we needed to come to the station to file an official report.
We tried to convince them to allow us to make it at the Target parking lot, since they were there still, but they wouldn't allow it. I also want to add that during all of this, our parents had no idea what was going on, and I'm not really sure we wanted them to know, specifically my aunt. Because, well, she's pretty well known to blow stuff extremely out of proportion, and she would probably never let my cousin out of the house again.
But now that we're going to be at the station, we really had no other choice but to tell them. So we tell our parents, and my mom, dad, brother, aunt, uncle, and cousin all meet us up at the station. I remember, too, that there were maybe about one or two police officers on duty that night, and we had to wait.
A couple of hours while they called the detective at his house, so he literally ended up interviewing us right in his pajamas in the fax room. Months later, I was going to school in another state when we all got subpoenas to come to court. We ended up having to go to court two separate times, and I actually had to fly home for about a month or two the second time because he apparently appealed or something before eventually pleading guilty the second time around.
Now, he's out on parole after pretty much serving no time in jail. To end this story, we don't go to that Target anymore, ever. The last that I've heard about this was a call from the parole officer, pretty much just asking my viewpoint and if I ever go to therapy over it.
I guess, on a wider note though, because my family and I have a pretty warped sense of humor, we now refer to it as the “pickle tickler incident. ” Anyways, a 74-year-old man that we found tickling your pickle in your car to little kids caused us to spend hours at the police station. Let's definitely not meet again, ever.
So, I just got back from the store, and I've got to tell you about this experience I just had. It may not be as scary as some of the other encounters, but it still gives me the chills. Let me start this story off by saying that this morning I wasn't in the best of moods.
I had to work the graveyard shift last night, and I woke up after only four hours of sleep with my back absolutely killing me. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to run a few errands since I was now wide awake. I needed to get a haircut while I was out as well; my sister works at a salon that is right next to a Target.
So after I got my sister to mow my scalp for free, by the way, I popped over to Target to grab a couple of items before heading home. So I'm just doing my thing, pushing my cart down the frozen food section, and I turned the corner to go into the next aisle. When I did, there was a middle-aged lady that was pushing her cart, heading in the opposite direction.
I nearly bumped into her but then stopped before our carts collided. She gave me a mean look and then said in a really mean tone, "Excuse me. " Now again, I have to say I wasn't in the best of moods, and I'm a short-tempered person as it is, so without thinking, I took a shot back at her and then said, "Oh, shut up!
You're fine! Call me an ass if you want. No one's perfect.
" But what happened next was just pure insanity. The lady then suddenly left her cart and started to follow me. I noticed this about halfway down the aisle, and then I turned around to ask her what her problem was.
I kid you not, she rolled her eyes to the back of her head, pointed at me, and then screamed very loudly. When I say screamed, I mean she was literally shrieking at the top of her lungs. It was like something right out of “The Exorcist.
” I hurried down the aisle to try and get away from this insane person, but she started running after me. Needless to say, all of the bystanders immediately stopped what they were doing and just stared at us. The lady kept screaming like a banshee at the top of her lungs while she chased me around the store.
Well, I nope the hell out of there, ran out of the exit of the store, and I looked back into the store as I was heading for my car. The lady was standing just outside the now-open automated sliding doors, just staring at me. While she stood there, her mouth was hanging wide open, and she was still just pointing at me.
Her eyes were still rolled right into the back of her head, and all you could see were the whites of her eyes. She suddenly turned around and then quickly walked back into the store. I decided to pick up my stuff at Walmart that was just down the street instead.
All I could think though the entire drive home was, "What the hell was that? That was insane! " So, to the creepy, screaming, possibly possessed banshee lady: I mean, perhaps I shouldn't have been so rude to you, but you still have more than one screw loose in your noggin, and you really need help.
But anyways, I definitely hope to never encounter you in the future.
