South Bend mother fears daugther's safety at T.J. Maxx in Mishawaka

MISHAWAKA, Ind.- A South Bend mom shaken and scared tonight after her daughter was nearly snatched in what she says was an attempted abduction.

The post she took to Facebook after the incident, Sunday afternoon, has been shared more than a thousand times. On Monday, she tells ABC57 News this was a life changing scenario.

“I instantly grabbed my daughter; to be honest I was panicking,” says Haley Craig, the mother.

Sunday afternoon was mother daughter day for these two, “We were in the luggage department right at the front of the store.”

25 minutes into the luggage search at T.J. Maxx her daughter was doing regular toddler things.

“She was around me, rolling a couple bags, she was probably ten feet away from me,” says Craig.

Then Craig says she was approached by a tall middle aged man, “…abruptly asking me for the price, ‘What is the price of this bag?’ says Craig.

Without answering the question, Craig looked left and right to see where her two and a half year old daughter had gone. “I kept looking forward and back which then I realized at the end of the isle was another man approaching my daughter.”

The other man was short middle aged man according to Craig. The minutes following almost seemed like a blur for Craig as her motherly instincts took over.

“I don’t know if I was looking for help or the gentleman who approached me in the first place but as walked around the store I noticed it didn’t look as if it were only two men associated with this,” says Craig.

Craig has never experience anything remotely close to this, but now her message to all families is to be aware.

“I went over probably 10 different scenarios in my head and the best thing I can say is trust your gut. I had a feeling something was off,” she says. “I just hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Mishawaka Police Lieutenant Tim Williams says this was filed as a suspicious persons report since there isn’t any evidence just yet that the two men were actually trying to abduct the girl.