A six-year-old girl who had been kidnapped and missing for a month was rescued following a traffic stop in Kansas, police confirmed.
According to a Kansas Highway Patrol Facebook post, the girl was found during a routine stop after a trooper flagged down an SUV for a traffic violation.
A search revealed there was a warrant out for the arrest of the front-seat passenger in another state for kidnapping a six-year-old girl a month prior.
The trooper noticed a girl about that age inside the vehicle with two men in their 60s.
The driver had a criminal history, including homicide and numerous weapons violations.
The trooper and a local deputy secured the driver and passenger before rescuing the child, who gave a fake name and date of birth, “having been coached to do so,” the post says.
A kidnapped six-year-old girl who had been missing for a month is rescued by a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper.
Courtesy/ Kansas Highway Patrol
The trooper was able to calm the girl, who then provided her real name.
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With this information, authorities were able to confirm that she was the missing kidnapping victim.
The girl was unharmed, and the men were taken into custody.
In an update to the original post, authorities acknowledged the public’s appreciation for the Kansas Highway Patrol and the trooper involved.
“Thank you for the outpouring of support for the Kansas Highway Patrol and for the trooper involved. This is an incredible story that highlights the unpredictable nature of a trooper’s job and the real impact they can have on people’s lives,” it said, adding it cannot share further details about the case in the interest of the child’s safety and while the investigation is ongoing.
Kansas highway patrol did not confirm if any charges were laid.
According to the Child Crime Prevention and Safety Center (CCPSC), a child goes missing or is abducted every 40 seconds in the U.S., while approximately 840,000 are reported missing every year.
Though most missing child reports are resolved quickly, many are never solved, and some involve cases where minors go unaccounted for extended periods, the CCPSC says.
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