The posting outlines an incident involving a young woman, who was also the original poster on social media. In her post, she said two men made comments about her as she was leaving her car, which gave her the impression they may try to grab her.
“As I approached the door, a million different things were going through my head,” the woman said in her post. “I decided I was not about to go into Walmart and come out with my hands full and have them still there waiting for me.”
The woman went back to her car and locked the doors. The woman says she didn’t think about calling police, instead she called her mother.
According to the woman, her mother later called Walmart and was told by an assistant manager two men had grabbed another woman by the arm later that morning. NBC5 contacted Walmart and was told by a manager that could not be verified.
The woman decided she needed to warn her friends and family.
“I have a friend who’s a single mother who shops there. I couldn’t imagine if something happened to her,” the woman said in an exclusive interview with NBC5.
At first, the post was private on the woman’s page, but a friend encouraged her to make it public. Once that happened, someone shared it on a social media site and the post warning women to be careful and pay attention was quickly shared by hundreds of people throughout the Rogue Valley.
Medford Police Department responded with its own post, saying it had no report of an incident like the one posted. The post went on to say, “We want to make sure people do not think we have females being snatched up in parking lots and thrown into human trafficking. Human trafficking does happen, but not typically in this manner.”
Within minutes of the Medford Police Department post, the original poster was being called a liar.
“It’s really heartbreaking to know that there are some people that are so quick to jump and assume that it’s fake,” said the woman Wednesday afternoon. “I deleted my Facebook because of all the trash talking that was going on.”
The woman, who doesn’t want her name or information shared, says, despite the negative reactions and those who are calling her story into question, she’s happy she shared the warning online.
“This happened. But, no matter what, women need to know that they need to be careful and be aware,” said the woman. “I can lay my head down at night knowing I didn’t turn my back on a problem. No one is going to get taken because I didn’t say something.”
Medford Police Department agrees. In an edited post, the department added this warning, “Be aware of your surroundings and trust your instincts, they are usually right.”
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