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An 11-year-old Arkansas girl who decided to run away was taking an extremely expensive cab ride across several states.
On Friday, December 5, the girl from Bryant, Arkansas left a note telling her family that she was running away. The girl had talked to her grandmother well after midnight that day, and left sometime after that. The terrified parents called Bryant Police who contacted Arkansas State Police and began an Amber Alert. The police later found out that the girl had walked to a local gas station and then caught a ride with an unknown male to a location in Little Rock.
Police were able to obtain the girl's cell phone records and saw that most calls were made around 3:00 a.m. that morning. One of the calls she made was to a male whose age has not been determined in Jacksonville, Florida. Police spoke to the male, who said that he had spoken with the girl but was not aware that she had run away. He was also unaware of her current whereabouts.
Two other calls were made to cab companies, one of which was a dead end. However, the other cab company in Little Rock confirmed that they had sent a driver to West Markham Street, where he met the young girl.
According to the cab driver, the girl said that she wanted to go to Jacksonville, Florida. The driver said that the ride would cost $2500, and the girl gave him $1300 up front with the rest to be paid when she arrived in Florida. “It was later found out the she had taken a large amount from her grandmother whom she was staying with at the time,” says Bryant Police.
The cab dispatcher then put police in contact with the cab driver, who immediately said that he had the girl in the cab and they were already in the state of Georgia. Bryant Police then called the Georgia State Police, and with both them and the cab on the line, they found the cab's location. George State Patrol then intercepted the cab just miles outside Atlanta. The relieved family then travelled to Atlanta to get their daughter, whom “they were afraid they had lost forever”, says Bryant Police.
“It is unclear why a cab company would agree to take such a young child across state lines with no parental guidance, not to mention it being in the middle of the night,” said Bryant Police. “One thing is for certain, the quick response of the parents [and] the Bryant Police Officers that worked flawlessly as a team saved this scared young girl from unknown dangers that were lying ahead.”
“She is now back in the safe arms of her family.”
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