Dowagiac police and other local law enforcement agencies are investigating reports of a kidnapping near Riverside Drive in the city, according to a press release from the Cass County Sheriff’s Department.

At approximately 7:18 p.m. Wednesday, police officers were contacted by individuals who live in the 500 block of Riverside Dr. Officers spoke with juvenile witnesses who said they were playing in the parking lot and heard a female yelling near the woods behind the building.

Witnesses said they saw a white male subject pull a female into the woods and that the suspect may have had a handgun, according to the release.

The suspect is described as a white male of an unknown age with brown hair. Witnesses say he was wearing blue jeans and a dark hooded sweatshirt with writing on it that possibly said “Aeropostale.” The victim is said to be a white female teenager with straight blonde shoulder-length hair who was wearing a pink zip-up sweater or sweatshirt.

Officers  conducted a canvass in the neighborhood to help identify possible witnesses. Police K-9 units have been searching the area but haven’t found anything.

A Child Is Missing organization has been contacted and reverse calls have been put out in the area with information.  Search teams have been assembled, are being debriefed and will be were set to begin a search at around 11 p.m.

Anyone with a family member missing is asked to call 911.

The Dowagiac Police Department is in charge of the call and the department is being assisted by several other agencies including Cass County Sheriff’s Department, Michigan State Police and Pokagon Tribal Police.

Another update should be released around 12 a.m.