A Kentucky dealership’s method of tracking its inventory might have inadvertently sparked fears about sex trafficking in the surrounding community.
After single women in Bowling Green, Ky., began posting warnings on social media claiming that the windows or taillights of their vehicles had been “marked” as a sign that they were traveling alone, TV station WNKY last week found a more benign explanation from Mark Cowan, the sales manager at Campbell Chevrolet. Cowan told the station that his store and others in the area use such marks to show when vehicles have been cleaned or inspected.
“It’s actually a paint pen,” Cowan said. “So, it’s not going to wash off when you go through the car wash. The rain’s not going to wash it off.”
Some of the women who posted photos of marked vehicles insisted that the lines and dots weren’t there when they left the dealership. Cowan said the marks are probably too small to notice.
“I don’t think what you’re seeing is something to be concerned about,” he said while showing that vehicles on the store’s lot had similar marks. “This is for us and the vendors to know that these vehicles have already been checked out and they’re ready for purchase.”