Florida Women Say They Were Almost Kidnapped For Human Trafficking & Warn TikTok Users
Recently, a slew of women living in or visiting Florida have posted to TikTok to share their stories about times they felt unsafe and believed they were in potential danger of being kidnapped for human trafficking.
This article contains content that may be upsetting to some of our readers.
The Sunshine State is ranked third in the nation for human trafficking, according to Voices for Florida.
One woman, Cecelia Sozack (@ceceliasozack), shared a viral video on December 29 where she recounted walking up to her apartment and seeing a strange man sitting near the communal laundry room.
He held out items on a piece of paper that were covered with tissue paper and asked her if she could send them to the L.A.P.D. She was immediately suspicious.
"The very first thing I thought of was these things could be laced or infected in some kind of drugs, maybe he's trying to traffic somebody, I have no idea," she continued. "Human trafficking is real, and I have no idea what his intentions were."
@ceceliasozak Don’t overextend your hand in the streets 🚨 #florida #fyp #streetsmarts #staysafe
While she warned people to stay safe, a quick search on the video app showed that countless other women were sharing their own stories about a similar worry.
Creator Kenna Rylee (@kenna.rylee) uploaded her experience back in October about an encounter that happened to her when she visited Indian Rocks Beach in July.
She revealed that she and her friend noticed a black SUV following them on the street, even after they started running away, to the point where she ran to a public beach and started screaming "mom" to get anyone's attention. She said as soon as she found her actual mother, the car was gone.
@kenna.rylee Visit TikTok to discover videos!
A Miami creator named Caryn (@_itscaryn) said back in July, she was approached by a man at a gas station who said he was selling watches and urged her to take a look into his car to see them.
She quickly refused and drove off. He was angry, followed her to the intersection and flipped her off.
While all of these creators were safe and revealed they might have just felt paranoid, it bothered them enough to share it with their audience and make sure people are aware of these types of incidents.
If you or someone you know is in trouble, the National Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888.
Operation "Fall Haul 2" mugshots. 