THE CHILD SNATCHER

It was late one night when a babysitter was watching a boring rerun of yet another overexposed television program. The child she was looking after was fast asleep as it was now around 1:15 in the morning. Apart from that, she was alone in the house with just the dim flickering glow of the television to light the room. She had left the living room door open so she could see right down the hall to the door of the child’s bedroom.

As she stared blankly at the television, something in the corner of her eye moved, and she suddenly swung her head around to see a dark, black object, the size and shape of a person, move down the hall towards the child’s bedroom. Instinctively, she jumped up, ran down the hall switching on all the lights, and bolted into the bedroom. The child was sound asleep and no one else was in the room. This sent a shudder of fear down her spine. She continued to check the rest of the house….nothing. After making sure every window was locked and every door was bolted securely. She then turned on all the lights in the house and closed the curtains. In her paranoid state, there was no way she wanted anyone looking in from the darkness outside.

Another hour ticked by. She wondered how much longer the parents were going to be so she could get out of this creepy place.

At around 2.45, a sudden noise made her jump out of her seat in fear: it was the sound of someone breathing out right next to her ear. She flung her head round: no one. She looked behind the sofa: nothing. Her heart was thumping loudly and a cold sweat began creeping across her forehead. At that moment she looked down the hall, only to see the dark shadowy figure looking right at her with its blood red eyes. This time she could clearly see it as the hall lights were on. She let out an ear piercing scream and the dark figure turned and walked straight for the child’s bedroom. Despite her fear, her motherly instincts kicked in and she ran down the hall suddenly bursting into the child’s room. Her worst fears were confirmed: the child had vanished!

She checked the entire house incase the child was hiding…nothing. How could this be? Every window and every door was securely locked and there’s no way anyone could get in or out of the house. She searched in vein and finally resorted to picking up the phone and calling the police.

The babysitter, Pauline Riddell, was locked up and is currently on death row awaiting execution for the abduction and murder of two year old Lucy Green. The body was never found and Pauline Riddell maintains to this day that her story is the truth.