10-Year-Old Girl Avoids Kidnapper By Asking For “Code Word”

Every parent’s worst nightmare is their children not coming home from school.

Fearsome Statistics

Every year, 460,000 kids go missing, and 5,000 of them are kidnapped. This is a report that either scares most parents or makes them more vigilant in protecting their children.

A Strategy

Together with her kids, Brenda James came up with a plan to make sure that her little ones won’t go with dangerous people. She got the idea after reading an article about using code words.

For Special Situations

In an interview, Brenda said, “They know who can pick them up and who can’t. But there’s always that special situation where there might be somebody they don’t know or don’t know well, so that’s why we came up with a code word.”

An Unexpected Encounter

One Wednesday afternoon, her daughter, Maddison, was walking with a friend near a park when a man pulled up next to them.

A Made-Up Story

According to the police, the man told Maddison that her brother was in a serious accident and she needed to go with him.

She Knew What To Do

Being the smart girl that she is, Maddison didn’t just say yes and leave with the stranger. Even though she was extremely worried, she first asked the man what the code word was, and it made him freeze for a moment before driving off.

Calling Mom

After the incident, Maddison called her mom. And after hearing the story, Brenda immediately got in her car and drove home.

Concealing His Identity

A lot of kids have reported seeing the man driving around the area several times a day. It was hard to get a detailed sketch of him because he covered most of his face with his hand, but based on the police’s investigation, he’s described to be in his 40s with a short beard and was driving a vehicle similar to a Ford Explorer.

Watch Good Morning America‘s interview with Maddison in the video below.

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