Incident With Pickup Truck Eyed in Saginaw Slaying

Man in pickup truck tried to lure two Fort Worth girls a month before Saginaw girl was killed

Police investigating the slaying of a Saginaw girl are looking into an incident in which a man approached two young Fort Worth sisters a month ago, but sped away when the girls' father confronted him.

The sisters, Alex Acuna, 9, and Andrea Acuna, 11, said they were in their front yard when the driver of a red pickup truck tried to get their attention.

"He said, 'Hey you, come over here. I have something for you,'" Alex Acuna said.

Police are looking for a red pickup in connection with the killing of 6-year-old Alanna Gallagher on July 1.

"I heard the same thing as she did," Andrea Acuna said.

The sisters said they did not approach the stranger.

"I was kind of scared," Andrea Acuna said. "I thought it was my dad's friend or something like that."

The girls' father, Andy Acuna, was watching from the front door.

"I heard someone calling over to my kids and that was a red flag to me," he said. "I immediately shut the door and walked out."

He said he confronted the driver.

"I immediately walked out and said, 'Hey, do you need something? What do you need?'" he said. "He immediately looked (like he was) shaking."

He said the man appeared startled and asked him something about buying a refrigerator, which he apparently had in the back of the pickup.

"He's like, 'I'm trying to sell this refrigerator.' And I was like, 'No, buddy, I don't think so,'" Acuna said.

The man quickly took off, but not before Acuna was able to jot down his license plate number.

The incident happened on May 31, Acuna said, a month before Gallagher was killed in Saginaw. Her body, wrapped in a tarp, was found in a street a mile away from her home.

The Acunas live in West Fort Worth, about 14 miles from Saginaw.

The red pickup police are looking for in the Saginaw case has a green paint splash on the back passenger side.

The Acuna sisters said they remember the pickup in their case for another reason.

"It was kind of rusty," Andrea Acuna said.

Saginaw police spokesman Damon Ing said investigators are pursuing many tips but don't yet know if this one is related to the case.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Gallagher's death.

Anyone with information is asked to call 682-888-3682 or 682-888-3684.

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