Despite recent social media accounts releasing information regarding possible kidnapping and sex trafficking near the University of Oregon campus, the University of Oregon Police Department has said there have been no verifiable incidences on or near the campus area. 

“I just want to be clear to our community; There have been no kidnappings on campus. There have been no kidnappings near campus; There have been no substantiated reports of sex trafficking on campus or next to campus,” UOPD Chief Matthew Carmichael said in an interview with the Emerald. 

He said that, if a kidnapping or a verifiable case of sex trafficking happened, UOPD would send out a notice to the UO community, per federal law. 

UOPD issued a security advisory on Jan. 21 after an individual asked students for a ride to Interstate 5. Freshman Sophie Sebastian said that on Jan. 18 she and her friend were sitting in the Kalapuya Ilihi parking lot, when a man approached them a little after 11 p.m.

“I think he was making sure that no one was watching him, and he comes up to us like, ‘Hey, I really need a ride to I-5,’” Sebastian said in an interview with the Emerald. “He was very persistent, like he just needed help over and over again. We kept pointing in the direction of I-5.” 

Sebastian said the man told them he was just passing through the area. However, they were suspicious of him, since he didn’t have luggage with him. Eventually, Sebastian said they rolled up their window, but they did not drive away. 

“I don’t know if he had a little backpack or pockets, and if he had a gun, I didn’t want to aggravate him,” Sebastian said. “After we rolled up the window, his face and demeanor changed and he kind of got angry at us. Then he hid behind the car for like five minutes staring at us.” 

Once Sebastian got back to her dorm, she said that she felt like she was downplaying the situation. The next day, she called her sister, who told her to call the police. Her sister told her the incident might have been related to sex trafficking. Sebastian then made a report to a non-emergency line and said she was in contact a lot with the police to figure out the situation. She posted a TikTok telling her story on Jan. 19, which grabbed the attention of the UO community.

Carmichael said he is thankful when students report situations like this. 

“If something’s happening, call us,” Carmichael said. “Don’t be shy. Sometimes I worry that people will be like, ‘I don’t want to sound foolish,’ or, ‘Maybe this isn’t a big deal.’ Look, if you feel unsafe, that’s a big deal.” 

Carmichael said after UOPD got notifications of two incidents when an individual displayed odd behavior around students, the police sent out a security alert. He said they were not mandated by any federal requirement to send a message, and that these incidents did not amount to a crime. However, it was something they wanted to make students aware of. 

Carmichael said because of this information going public, it caused distress for some UO community members. He said UOPD then became aware of information on social media that there had been a kidnapping, with sex trafficking intermingled, but that the information was not substantiated. 

Following this information, UOPD put out a notice to let the UO community know they were aware of the situation. However, because police could not verify the information, Carmichael said UOPD decided to not broadcast it as a security message or an emergency notification, which sends a text message to the UO community.

Carmichael said that it can be scary to see reposts of an initial story, but for the kidnapping rumor, the story changed three to four times. 

“It’s important that we focus our information when we give it out, and that it is factual,” Carmichael said. “But there’s a cool part to this — students are actually calling us now. I want to remind our students that we are three minutes away.” 

He said that following these incidents, he thinks the UO community’s awareness of safety is increasing. He said that whenever students feel uncomfortable, they should report it. 

“The fact that our students reported is awesome,” Carmichael said. “Under the same circumstances, I would tell them to report again.”