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Ursinus

Three Ski Masks, a Silver Honda, and a Penn State Sweatshirt: The Early-Morning Abduction Attempt Near Ursinus College

PAmissing persontimely warninghigh confidence
Under Investigation

At approximately 2:15 AM EST on November 17, 2019, a Ursinus College student walking along 6th Avenue toward Main Street in Collegeville, Pennsylvania was approached by three masked men who exited a silver Honda, grabbed the student's arm, and fled when the student yelled for help. Ursinus Campus Safety issued a Clery Act timely warning describing the suspects and vehicle. The incident attracted regional news coverage; FOX 29 Philadelphia reported that state police and Collegeville police were investigating.

Alerts
1
Response
Killed
Injured
Institution
Ursinus College
Private Liberal Arts · PA
~1,500 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTEmail
TIMELY WARNING: On Sunday, November 17, 2019, at approximately 2:15 a.m., an Ursinus student was walking along 6th Avenue towards Main Street when a silver Honda (possibly an Accord with a Pennsylvania license plate) pulled up alongside the student. Three males wearing ski masks exited the vehicle and took hold of the student's arm. The males were laughing and shouting an expletive, and after the student yelled for help, they got back into the vehicle and sped off down 6th Avenue. The males are described as white, tall and skinny and possibly college aged. Two of the males were wearing black clothing and a third was wearing a burgundy Penn State sweatshirt. This incident was reported to Campus Safety and Collegeville Police at approximately 3 p.m. on November 17, 2019. State Police and the Borough of Collegeville Police are investigating. If you have information about this incident, please contact Campus Safety at 610-409-3333 or Collegeville Police at 610-489-9330.
Verbatim from the official Ursinus Campus Safety timely warning page; the detailed suspect description -- including the distinctive burgundy Penn State sweatshirt -- was published on the official page
A 12-hour delay between the 2:15 AM incident and the 3:00 PM report to Campus Safety represents an unusual lag; the student may have been reluctant to report until daylight hours or may have initially been unsure whether to treat the incident as criminal
The laughter and shouting during the attempt was noted in official sources, suggesting the perpetrators may not have intended a serious abduction but rather a targeted harassment; regardless, the Clery-covered geography and physical grabbing meet the timely warning threshold
Context

Background

Ursinus College is a small private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, approximately 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The November 17, 2019 incident occurred on 6th Avenue near Main Street -- a pedestrian route between the college's residential area and the Collegeville downtown. At 2:15 AM EST, the student was alone when a silver Honda pulled alongside them and three masked men grabbed the student's arm before fleeing when the student shouted for help. Ursinus Campus Safety published an official timely warning on its website that afternoon, and FOX 29 Philadelphia and 6abc Philadelphia broadcast the incident. The three suspects, described as college-aged white males wearing ski masks, were never publicly identified or arrested. Collegeville Police and Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation. The perpetrators' behavior -- laughter and loud shouting during the attempt -- raised questions about motive, but the physical grabbing of the student's arm met the legal threshold for a Clery Act timely warning under the kidnapping/attempted abduction category.
Analysis

Key Findings

This is one of the few timely warning cases with a confirmed-verbatim source (the official Ursinus Campus Safety page) for a missing-person/abduction-attempt incident at a small liberal arts college
The 12-hour delay between the 2:15 AM incident and the 3:00 PM report illustrates how late-night abduction attempts may go unreported until daylight, complicating the timely-warning timeliness standard
The distinctive detail of a burgundy Penn State sweatshirt in the official warning reflects best practice: hyper-specific suspect descriptions help distinguish legitimate sightings from mistaken reports
Multi-jurisdictional response (campus safety, Collegeville police, state police) is standard for abduction attempts that occur on Clery geography but are investigated by local law enforcement
Outcome
Suspects fled the scene. No arrests were publicly reported. State police and Collegeville police investigated.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
  2. News
  3. News
Tags
attempted-abductiontimely-warningprivate-liberal-artspennsylvanialate-nightpedestrian-routemulti-suspectverbatim-confirmedUnder Investigation
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion