Parents in Hamilton are closely watching their children as police search for suspects and a white van involved in two attempted child abductions reported this week.

On Monday, a 9-year-old girl was nearly abducted by a man in a white van as she was walking along Heathrow Court around 8 p.m., according to police. A second attempted child abduction happened Thursday evening when a man jumped out of a white van on Williams Avenue and began chasing three boys, ages 10, 11 and 13. In both instances, the children were able to escape unharmed.

Officer Kristy Collins, a spokeswoman for the Hamilton Police Department, said detectives don’t know if the two incidents are related because there were three men in the van in the Thursday incident compared to a single assailant reported in the Monday one. Detective Rich Burkhardt would only say that police are investigating the incidents.

But Melissa Smith, the mother of one of the boys from Thursday’s incident, said police told her the kidnapping attempts were related, and that they are looking for two other suspects who apparently were aiding the man who chased her son. Smith, who lives on Williams Avenue, said the incidents have shaken her neighborhood and parents are taking extra precautions when it comes to their children.

Robin Abbott, the mother of the 11-year-old and grandmother of the 13-year-old, said the boys don’t want to come out of the house by themselves right now. She said the children are being told where they can go and that they have to have a buddy with them at all times.

“They have been told to travel in packs and leave no man behind,” Abbot said. “I have two girls, and they are not coming out into the yard.”

Parents were clustered along Williams Avenue around 3:45 p.m. Friday waiting for the bus to drop their kids off from school, and the kidnapping attempts were all the buzz among them.

“Everyone on the block has kids, and we all look out for everyone’s kids,” Abbott said. “Our kids have been told to run to somebody’s door and bang on it until they let you in.”

The 13-year-old involved in Thursday’s incident said he felt fortunate.

“Our friends were talking about it today at school and they said I was really lucky I didn’t get pulled into the van,” he said.

According to the police report, the three boys were walking home about 7:20 p.m. Thursday on Williams Avenue from the New Hope Outreach Center, 2245 Pleasant Ave., when a van pulled alongside them and stopped. After the van stopped, a suspect from the van’s back seat jumped out of the van and began chasing the boys. The boys ran eastbound on Pleasant Avenue, according to the police report, back to the outreach center and contacted the pastor there. The pastor walked the boys to their homes on Williams Avenue.

The incident was similar to Monday’s abduction attempt when a man who reportedly tried to kidnap a 9-year-old girl as she was walking on Heathrow Court, near Fairborn Drive. The child reported that the suspect did not engage her in conversation; he just grabbed her and attempted to get her into his open van, according to police.

The girl screamed and kicked the suspect several times, which enabled her to get away and make it home safely, according to police.

That suspect is described as a white male, about 5-foot-10-inches tall, medium build, a scruffy beard and dark, curly, collar-length hair. He was wearing torn clothing and shoes, a knit cap and appeared very unkempt, according to a police description. The suspect’s vehicle was described as a “white ‘box’ van” with some dents and marks all over the sides, very dark windows and dirty on the inside and outside.

A “beat up white van with ladders” on it was seen sitting in an alley just off Pleasant Avenue near the outreach center for an hour and a half prior to Thursday’s incident, Smith said.

Collins said residents have been calling police with license tag numbers of suspicious white vans. She said officers are stopping these vans as they receive tag numbers. As of late Friday afternoon, Collins said nothing concrete has come from the tips. Collins also said police are making themselves more visible in areas where kids are and where the incidents took place. She said anyone with any information should contact police at 513-868-5811.

Police in Middletown, Monroe and Trenton are monitoring the situation and have briefed their officers on the vehicle and suspect descriptions.

Middletown police Lt. Scott Reeve said they will be talking with Hamilton investigators about the reports.

“We’re very concerned about this problem,” Reeve said.

Staff Writer Michael Pitman contributed to this report.