CHAPEL HILL – A child reported Tuesday that a man approached him and asked him to get into his car in front of the child’s home on Aberdeen Drive in Southern Village.

The child’s mother sent a description of the incident across several neighborhood list serves in the area, warning other parents.

Lieutenant Josh Mecimore of the Chapel Hill Police Department said the child reported that he was standing in his front yard around 5:15 p.m. when the man pulled up in an older red car with many scratches on it. After the man asked the child to get into the car,  he said he ran away from the man into his house, and his mother called 911.

“The child reported that the driver of the car, an older white male with a bushy beard and reddish hair, told him that he was trying to find his child and wanted this child that he had stopped to talk to—to help him find his child,” Mecimore said.

After the child ran away into house, the man left the area and officers have not located him.

Mecimore said the man is considered “a suspicious person.”

“It doesn’t really sound like there was a lot for us to determine if he is a threat or not, so we would just encourage people to take the precautions they would typically be taking with regard to their safety and the safety of their kids.”

Mecimore said he is not aware of any prior similar incidents involving the man.

“We would certainly at least like to indentify him and possibly talk to him just to see if we could determine what his intentions might have been, or if he in fact has a missing child,” he said.

If you see a person who matches the description, call the CHPD at 919.968.2760.