A 10-year-old girl is being praised by local law enforcement for her quick thinking in a scenario where she felt threatened by a stranger who was potentially planning on kidnapping her.
According to a recent news report by Good Morning America, on Tuesday, January 21, Madison Raines and a friend were walking through a park near Madison's home, when a stranger approached them in a white SUV.
Shielding his face, the stranger told the girl that her brother had been in a serious accident and had been told to pick her up.
Take a look at this news report about the incident:However, when young Madison, who hails from Arizona, asked the man what the family’s code word was he blanked and drove off. Concerned, Madison rushed home and told her grandmother all about the incident.
Madison's mother Brenda James later stated in a press conference that, "My daughter called me crying upset and she told me that 'some guy tried to take her'. He told her his brother had been in a serious accident and she needed to come home with him."
Meanwhile, Madison herself stated in a later interview: "I was terrified. I was terrified that my brother was in an actual accident, that he could be hurt ... I was scared because if I had popped in, I don't know what he would have done to me."
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office later posted a status on Facebook in which Sheriff Mark Lamb stated: Kudos to the parents of this child for having a code word and talking about to their children about stranger danger. We hope by putting this out, it will encourage parents to have that conversation and create a plan with their children, so they know what to do if they are in that situation."
.jpg_wXEJDz?tr=h-184)
