Brother saves sister from attempted abduction in Avondale

CHICAGO, IL -- A girl was able to break free from a man attempting to kidnap her in Avondale thanks to her brother, officials say. The attempted abduction took place in the 3000-block of North Francisco in broad daylight.

"I was trying to grab anything i could to try and not go in to van," says Diavonnie Ingram.

Her mother, Felicia Wings, is still trying to piece together what happened to her children in the alley Monday morning.

"It's disturbing, it's really disturbing," she says. "My heart dropped. This is my kids. You see and read about this all the time, but for it to happen to me, I was flabergasted, I couldn't believe it."

The Diavonnie and her brother Devonte were walking together when they say a man in a dented white van came after Diavonnie and violently grabbed her.

"She was already half way in to the van, like to the waist, and I had to grab her legs and keep pulling as hard as I could," Davonte says.

The brother and sister struggled to break free and say the man remained silent.

"My brother looked back and that's when he noticed the doors were open," Diavonnie says. "I didn't hear them open."

Diavonnie says the van's license plate was covered, but both got a clear look at the suspect. They describe him as a Hispanic man, about 20-30 years old, 5 ft. 9 in. to 6 ft. 2 in. tall and between 190 to 200 lbs. He was clean shaven, with dark curly hair, a black and white Adidas jacket and black construction boots.

Their mother says her son made a life-saving decision for her sister.

"My son to me is my hero, as well as hers," she says. "And he's always going to be our hero because he saved her life."

Chicago police are investigating the possibility that Diavonnie may have encountered the suspect before.