Kramer’s Korner: Human Trafficking Is Happening In Amarillo

You hear about it happening in other places. You've read other people's tales and stories on social media. You think to yourself, "wow, that's scary. Glad it wasn't me".

It's those stories about being followed or tracked when you're in a store. You can feel those peering eyes on you, and it seems everywhere you go, that person is close by.

It's even scarier when you have a young child with you. You hear about people being followed around a store, then that same person happens to leave the store around the same time you do. They magically seem to appear to be parked near you.

Yes, trafficking is real not just in the country, but right here in Amarillo. How do I know? It just happened to my wife and young daughter.

They had literally run in just to grab some dish soap because I forgot to pick it up when I went shopping yesterday, so I can't help but feel this is all my fault. She texted me after she safely made it home and told me all about it.

Now I've seen some people that look like they're up to no good at different stores and shops before, you can almost tell just by seeing how someone is standing and scanning. She (thankfully) picked up on that real quick shortly after getting there. She went about her business in the store, albeit uncomfortably, then went to check out.

As she was walking to her car, she said a weird vehicle followed her to the car. There's the communication with the person inside the store and the person outside waiting to scoop someone up. She got our daughter put in her seat, ran to her door, got in and promptly locked the doors.

She left the parking lot and noticed the vehicle behind her still. Her heads up thinking told her to drive around aimlessly for a bit. She started dipping and diving through Wolflin and just kept going in different directions. She was able to finally shake the tail and she darted home.

She tells me she needs a gun or taser, which I've never heard come out of her mouth before. She's not wrong, she needs to be protected.

The only thing I wish she would've done differently is drive directly to the police station and gotten the license plate of the car tailing her. At minimum she could've filed a report and gotten some eyes on the vehicle.

Yes, trafficking is real here in Amarillo. PLEASE keep your eyes up and senses on. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. If you're at a store and weren't planning on buying something, I suggest doing that, something small just so you can go to the cashier and let them know you're afraid someone is following you. Ask them to have someone walk you outside to deter the people. It typically works and you don't have to worry about a tail.