MARISSA, IL ( KPLR ) - A registered sex offender is a person of interest in the attempted abduction of three children in Marissa, Illinois. Records show he lives in Marissa and now resides with a single mother and her three young children.

"It's a shame that we have somebody out trying to snag somebody else's children," local resident Ken Calvert says.

Calvert echoes the sentiment in this town that's now on high alert. Three of their young children, a boy and two girls, were approached by a man who offered to give them a ride. Marissa Police Chief Tom Pather says, "Two of them had been from inside the car and the third one, the guy was standing outside the vehicle when the kid came by. He offered candy."

Chief Pather says there are two convicted sex offenders in his town of two-thousand. One is now being considred "a person of interest." The chief says the man matches the description of the suspect.

Illinois Sex Offender Registry