Man in white van 'an urban myth'

[Dasla]

Originally Posted by BenPenguin

Anybody else think the A-Team has gone a bit underbudget?

I thought that too BenPenguin.

[Dasla]

Originally Posted by A Turtle Named Mack

How does one get one's house on the route of this most sanguinary service?

So Turtle, do you own a cat you want to get rid of, or is it a neighbours cat you want the service for.

[allyn211]

Originally Posted by Aud 1

A local kidnapper used a white pickup truck. Not close enough?

I noticed you were from Missouri. Were you referring to the Ben Ownby kidnapping?

[UEL]

Around here we've had one RCMP warning about someone driving around in a vehicle (not a white van) trying to lure children.

However, a week later, another word-of-mouth warning is making the rounds, but not through the schools and the RCMP. The vehicle in question is a white cube van.

Another time a white van was mentioned involved the Beltway Snipers. People were madly scrambling to find the snipers in a white van. I had a friend working in DC at the time and he is usually not a jumpy man, but any white van had him spooked. And in the end, as we all know, it was not a white van that the snipers used.

[Roadsterboy]

Originally Posted by Graham2001

I can remember seeing news stories in the 80's about people in white cars going around urban areas in the UK selling Georgio Amrani (Not a misspelling) watches. Supposedly they told the victims the watches were 'overstock' worth 200 pounds a watch, were being sold for 50 pounds and the actual value was around 5 pounds.

"Rolex isn't spelled with two X's."
"Factory seconds. You wanna buy it or not?"

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by DemonWolf

I think that the legend probably arose because it seems that the majority of commercial vans, especially the kind with no windows at all, are most often white. That type of van would also be perfect for staging a kidnapping. Large entryway, windowless cargo area, large enough for the kidnapper to enter with the victim to restrain, etc.

The kind that the whole state was looking for back in October 2002 when the DC Sniper was really driving around in a blue car.