"My parents are dead."
It's those words that may have saved a young girl from a child predator when she was approached on the outskirts of her Adelaide school.
The Year 10 student was walking near the perimeter of Reynella East College about 8.30am on Monday when she was approached by a man who told her, "Your mum told me to pick you up at 1.30pm", reported the Adelaide Advertiser.
He wasn't expecting the response from the student though. She responded with a lie, that her parents were "dead", which sent the man scurrying back to his car, a dark green old model Ford sedan.
The girl's mother Emily Mirano told Nine News the incident was "very frightening". Her actions have drawn praise from her principal, Caroline Green, who said she was able to successfully remove herself from harm's way.