Girl Foils Alleged Kidnapping Attempt

S A L T  L A K E  C I T Y, UTAH, April 13 -- Seven-year-old Shelby Flanders was walking home from elementary school when a stranger in a red car approached her with a frightening story about her mother.

The man, according to the Salt Lake County Sheriff's department, told Shelby that her mom had been in a car accident and that he was sent to pick her up. But Shelby didn't buckle under the pressure.

Shelby said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America that when she refused his offer of candy, the man said her mom had been in an accident. When she asked him the code word, he didn't answer, "so I said 'no' and I ran," she said.

Shelby ran off toward some school friends who had been walking ahead, and the man quickly pulled a U-turn and sped away.

"If we don't have a code word when anybody comes up to us, we won't go with them," said Shelby.

After the scare, Shelby called her mother, Audree Flanders, from her friend's house with the frightening story.

"She called and left a message on my phone and said she was at a friend's house because on the way home somebody tried to steal her," Audree Flanders said.

Shelby's father, Richard Flanders, said their family code word has been in place for 10 years and this is the first time that any of the Flanders children had to use it.He says he's pleased that Shelby passed the ultimate test.

Audree Flanders says she is proud of her daughter, even though Shelby was supposed to be walking home with the other girls in her neighborhood.

Shelby and her three older siblings are well-educated in "stranger dangers." They've been required, by their parents, to watch a videotape about safety techniques a number of times.

The video teaches children and their parents to establish a code word in case of an emergency. If a family emergency happens, children know that they should only go with people who know the code word.

Sgt. Rosie Rivera of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's department says the Flanders are model parents who have prepared their children well for the unexpected.