A 12-year-old girl kidnapped at a sleepover and taken into the woods was found barefoot in a ditch, says the Good Samaritan who rescued her. Healthcare worker Jennifer Maxwell says she spotted the child in Erin, North Carolina, while driving home from work at around 1.20 p.m. Sunday. “I seen a little girl run out of the woods down the embankment, and she just dropped in the ditch crying,” Maxwell told CBS 17. Either she went through briers or thick brush.
Her arms had scratches and she was barefooted.” Maxwell told WRAL she pulled up beside the girl, who told her she had been taken while sleeping over at her best friend’s home. The healthcare worker called 911 before taking the girl to police station in Erwin, a small town of around 5,000 in Harnett County. The girl, who has not been identified, told Maxwell a man had tapped her awake during the sleepover and told her to get into his truck. “She said that they drove for a little bit and then he pulled into a wooded area and he made her get out,” Maxwell said.
He has since been charged with first-degree kidnapping and assault, Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats confirmed on social media. According to jail records, his bond has been set at $2.5 million and he is due back in court in September. Maxwell’s help came at a cost however, telling reporters that while driving back from giving the police a statement, her car was struck by another vehicle. “My car is now totaled,” she told WRAL. Like my left hand side is really sore.
Nothing major.” Later in the hospital, Maxwell saw both the 12-year-old and her parents, who thanked her for bringing their daughter to safety.
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