When people are training to be doctors (I’m told), they are instructed, “When you hear hoofbeats, assume horses, not zebras.” The idea being that most likely they are seeing something very common (say, a cold) than something outlandishly rare (like beriberi).
Someone in Brighton, England, could have used that lesson. Earlier this week someone called the police to report witnessing a possible child abduction in broad daylight in a shopping center parking lot. The truth turned out to be, metaphorically, a horse, not a zebra. Here’s the story, over at Let Grow.