Key sentence:
- Authorities rescued an abducted North Carolina adolescent after using a hand gesture she learned on TikTok to signal for aid.
- James Herbert Brick, 61, was detained and charged with unlawful confinement on the spot.
Last week, an abducted North Carolina adolescent was rescued by authorities after using a hand gesture she learned on TikTok to signal for aid.
The 16-year-old used the hand signal to express distress to a passing vehicle, which was originally intended as a nonverbal cue to assist victims of domestic abuse.
The 911 caller reported to Kentucky authorities on Thursday, seeing the underage passenger flash the sign, which involves tucking your thumb into your open palm and then folding your fingers down over your thumb.
The Canadian Women’s Federation launched the “Signal for Help” campaign in 2020, and it has since swept across social media.
When many people were housebound due to the epidemic, it originated as a mechanism for people to alert others to potential problems at home.
Investigators were able to halt the vehicle as it exited the highway and determined that the youngster had been reported missing by her parents from Asheville, N.C., two days prior, according to the Laurel Country Sheriff’s office.
Also read: During the storm on Saturday, a tornado passed through UBC
“I truly believe this girl’s life was saved,” Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a police spokesman, told ABC.
The driver who contacted authorities could track the vehicle, provide mile markers as they passed, and inform police when it exited the highway.
“It was fantastic for us since we knew exactly when that car would arrive,” Acciardo remarked.
James Herbert Brick, 61, was detained and charged with unlawful confinement on the spot. According to the sheriff’s office, pictures on Brick’s phone showed the girl in “a sexual manner.”
The girl and the driver were told, and she first agreed to accompany him, but she became fearful at some point.
According to investigators, brick and the child allegedly travelled through North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio, where they stayed with Brick’s family. The couple fled when his relatives realised the girl was underage and had been reported missing.
Brick was arrested and put into the Laurel County jail on a $10,000 bond, pending a court appearance on Tuesday.
Source by CBC
Get Canada and Manitoba’s top News, Market news, and other worldwide news only on Manitoba Daily.
