Thursday, November 4, in Kentucky, a young 16-year-old girl was rescued thanks to a gesture learned on social networks.
Kidnapped two days earlier, the teenager was in her captor’s car when she managed to alert a motorist behind, thanks to a distress hand signal popularized by Tiktok.
“The motorist was behind the vehicle and noticed a female passenger in the vehicle making hand gestures which are known on the ‘Tik Tok’ social media platform to represent violence in the home or ‘I need to ‘aid”. The driver informed 911 that the woman appeared to be in distress. He also reported that the vehicle was being driven by a male subject. As the suspect’s vehicle headed south, the motorist continued to follow the car giving authorities updates on the suspect’s location. ”
The investigators were then able to proceed to an arrest. They then discovered that the passenger was a minor missing for 2 days.
Her 61-year-old kidnapper was charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement and possession of a sexual image involving a minor over 12 years old.
Awareness campaign
On the American television channel ABC, Sheriff John Root, in charge of the investigation, made a point of demonstrating the gesture of distress. It is carried out in two stages and can be repeated:
- step 1: the thumb is folded over the palm,
- step 2: the other four fingers, still in the air, close over the thumb.
According to him, the young teenager was very lucky that the motorist managed to identify this still little known gesture.