Source: Timcast/ Daily Mail
A mother from Georgia had to make use of the Find My iPhone feature to track her kidnapped son. The nine year old was taken while the family’s car was stolen with the child still inside it. The Atlanta Police Department specified that the incident took place on April 4. The mother, Jessica Moore had parked her vehicle and taken a step out from the vehicle without taking the keys with her. That was when a man went inside the vehicle and drove away with her son still inside the car.
The police disclosed the details of the incident on a post on the social media platform Facebook. They stated that the police had immediately got to the scene and initiated the necessary preliminary investigation. The mother managed to track her son’s smartphone using the ‘Find My’ feature available on iPhones. She was able to “relay real time tracking” details to the police. The Fulton County Sheriff, Fulton County Police Department and Georgia State Patrol assisted Atlanta Police took charge and used the tracking details to try and find the stolen car.
Subsequently, The police assured that an officer managed to locate the car being closely followed by the State Patrol (GSP). The suspect trued to run away from the police, but the GSP could successfully carry out a “precision immobilisation technique (PIT)” to render the car immobile. Then, the suspect was arrested without incident and the child appeared rather unharmed. However, he was assisted to the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta-Hughes Spalding Hospital for observation.
“We are happy to report the child and his mother have been reunited. We again remind the community to lock their cars, and remove all valuables, including their children, when exiting their vehicles,” police said.
Amber Rollins, Director of Kids and Car Safety stated that car thefts are presently taking place in neighbourhoods that appear safe. Along with it, in convenience stores, daycares, even in the driveways of people’s house. This crime of opportunity, she said, relied on thieves knowing when anyone would leave their car running. In most cases, such thieves make most of the opportunity and do not spot the kid present. Mostly, they ditch the car after realising their presence or leave the kid somewhere else. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) specified 40 such cases of children abducted in car thefts in the span of 12-13 months. Such cases became the foundation for the issuing of AMBER alerts since last year.
