Bill's Notes

When I heard this kidnaping story yesterday, I thought, "Uh, that doesn't sound right." Sure enough, today the truth comes out:

The frantic search for Bonnie Sweeten and her 9-year-old daughter - which began after she called 911 Tuesday to report that they had been kidnapped in Bucks County - ended yesterday at Walt Disney World.

Sweeten, 38, and daughter Julia Rakoczy were taken into custody at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa about 8:40 p.m., the FBI said. Sweeten was being held by authorities in Orange County, Fla., and her daughter was safe.

Sweeten will be extradited to Bucks County, where she faces charges of making a false report and identity theft, both misdemeanors. The investigation is continuing into possible theft charges, said Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry.

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The efforts to track down Sweeten - which included an Amber Alert and massive local and national media coverage - began when she told a Philadelphia 911 dispatcher about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday that she had been abducted by two black males and stuffed into the trunk of a Cadillac.

Emphasis mine. It was the "two black males" that got me thinking ... and the Cadillac ... plus the whole TV-movie feel of the story. Too stereotypical. When certain types of suburban white people commit crimes, such as trying to kill their spouses, or kidnap their own kid to flee a marriage, they blame generic "black males."

Pairs of black men don't go around stuffing suburban white women and their children into trunks of Cadillacs. Sorry if I'm stereotyping as well. If you end up in the trunk of two black dudes' car, it's because you and your spouse owed them money, or you were involved in a drug deal, or otherwise tried to mess with them.

My two cents. YMMV.