JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An odd scenario is leaving women across Duval County feeling uneasy and unsafe.
Their stories are all the same. A woman goes into a store alone and comes out to find a note on her car. On the note, a person calling themself Tony explains they are a fireman that has been walking behind them and they want to get to know them, leaving a phone number.
It may seem harmless enough, but dozens of women in different parts of the city are claiming that they are getting these notes, saying that they feel unsafe.
"He pretty much described her as if he had been watching her," said Tammy Durgin about a note her daughter received at the Walmart on Philips Highway.
"I knew that there were no firemen behind me," said Lavonna Smith who got a note at the Walmart in River City back in March.
"I feel unsafe and I feel uneased like somebody realized I was vulnerable," said Eboni Aiken who received a note June 5th, also at River City Marketplace.
Some of the notes have different handwriting and at least three of the phone numbers written are disconnected. Private Investigator Kathy Conran called those numbers and believes they're from pay-as-you-go "burner" phones.
"I sent a picture of it to my friend and she said, 'Oh my goodness, don't you remember that I got one of those as well?'" said Smith.
Smith found out just how many women have the same story when she posted to Facebook.
"I just happened to see the lady's post," said Aiken.
"Same thing that happened to my daughter," added Durgin.
First Coast News knows of at least eight people who have gotten these notes. Smith says dozens reached out to her, suspecting the same thing.
"Trying to lure women in for God knows what," Smith said.
"Sex trafficking is a real thing," said Durgin.
But two private investigators First Coast News talked to don’t think that’s the case, saying it’s not a tactic usually used in human trafficking.
"It may be trivial and it may be somebody that's just a little bit off, a little bit troubled," said Private Investigator Sean Mulholland. "But if it's part of a more serious thing... One of the saddest things in my experience in a police department is when something serious happened or somebody was hurt or killed and somebody said, 'I wish I had said something.'"
Mulholland says this is suspicious activity. Report it. It could be the piece to a larger investigation. The women say this is a reminder to always be aware of your surroundings.
Several women say they spoke with police and filed a report. JSO’s spokesperson tells First Coast News he didn’t find any reports filed with this scenario.