Authorities are searching for a man who may have abducted a child in Spotsylvania County.
A witness told authorities that a man apparently grabbed a kicking, screaming boy and forced him into a van before taking off at a high rate of speed. It happened around 1:45 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Smith Station Road and Holleybrooke Drive.
Capt. Jeff Pearce of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office said it is unclear if a parent or if stranger may have abducted the child.
The suspect vehicle is described as a sky-blue full-sized work van with tinted windows and a white repair patch on the back. The van was last seen in the area of the Holleybrooke subdivision in Spotsylvania.
The suspect is described as a 25 to 30-year-old white or Hispanic man, wearing dirty black pants and a black tank top.
The boy is described as about 12 or 13 years old, white, 5'1" tall, weighing 70 to 80 pounds, with light brown hair. He was wearing a red and white striped shirt and blue cargo pants.
Sheriff's deputies, Virginia State Police and the FBI are assisting in the investigation, including stopping cars in the area to try to collect more information and spread the word of the possible abduction.
"We are doing everything we can to identify the child and verify that there was indeed an abduction, of if it was a parental issue where a parent may have been getting an unruly child into the van to take them home," Pearce said. "We don't know at this point, but until we do we are going to treat this as if it were a criminal scene."
State Police have issued a endangered missing child alert in the incident. Call 911 if you see or have any information on the van.
Stay with NBCWashington and News4 for the latest on this developing story.
Photo Credit: David Culver