Milford police are asking for the public's help finding a man who tried to abduct a 19-year-old woman Wednesday.

The victim was taking a break from her job at the Whole Foods near Boston Road when a man in a white van approached and grabbed her in an abandoned lot nearby, police say. The woman escaped.

The suspect is described as a white male in his 50s with gray hair and a gray beard. Police say they spotted the van on Interstate 95 but lost sight of it.

Milford police are advising people to be on the lookout and avoid areas with few other people.

"Maybe use the front of the building," says Officer Mike Devito. "So you're in view of several witnesses."

Whole Foods shoppers say the story shocks them.

"We live half a mile from here," says Preston Jump, who lives in Orange. "And we think it's one of the safest places in the country."

There are no security cameras in the empty lot behind the supermarket, police say. 

Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call Milford police at 203-878-6551.