The man pictured in a police sketch on the front of last week's Simi Valley Acorn turned out to be guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On Aug. 31, a 10-year-old Berylwood Elementary School student was waiting for her bus when a man drove up and called her by her name, first and last. He said he had permission from her mother to pick her up. The girl didn't recognize him and walked away from his vehicle.

Later that evening, the girl's concerned mother reported the incident to authorities, who in turn opened an investigation.

Last Thursday, according to police reports, the girl saw the same man again, but this time he was picking up another girl.

Further investigation by Simi Valley detectives revealed that the man did have permission to pick up the second girl and that the two students involved have similar-sounding names.

This, they concluded, caused the miscommunication that led school staff members to point the man in the direction of the wrong youngster, and subsequent fears that a possible kidnapper was lurking near local schools.

The police department immediately closed the case.