A Harnett County woman is being called a hero after she helped rescue a kidnapped 12-year-old girl on Sunday.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Jennifer Maxwell said she was on driving home from work when she saw a little girl along U.S. Highway 421.
“I was almost at that DMV right there at the wooded area beside the lawyer's office, and all of a sudden, this little girl came running out of the woods and down the embankment,” Maxwell told WRAL. “She kind of just dropped in the ditch and was just crying hysterically.”
Maxwell said she slowed down and looked in her rearview mirror to see if anyone was going to stop.
“I was like, somebody is going to stop for that baby. No one ever did,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell immediately turned around to check on the girl.
“I rolled down my window, and I was like, ‘Baby, are you okay?’ And she was like, ‘No, I've been kidnapped.’ And I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ She was like, ‘Yes, I'm serious. I was kidnapped.’”
Maxwell helped the girl into her car and called 911.
The girl was wearing a large T-shirt, a pair of shorts but had no shoes on, Maxwell said. She was also covered in scratch marks.
“I don't know if she went through briars or brush,” Maxwell said.
According to Maxwell, the girl told her that she spent the night at her best friend’s house who lives next door and that’s when the suspect, Daniel Gear, woke her up.
“She followed him and got in his truck,” Maxwell said. “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 the girl told her they walked for a couple hours in the woods.
“He just kept like kind of pushing her, grabbing her shoulder, pushing her, making her walk.” Maxwell described. “It's just devastating, you know. I have three kids who are now grown and I'm raising my godchildren, and you just don't know what could have happened.”
She took the girl to the Erwin Police Department where police took her to get help. She also showed deputies where she found her.
Maxwell said shortly after leaving the police department she was involved in a car accident and went to the hospital to be evaluated.
While at the hospital, she was able to see the girl she helped.
“I did see the little girl at the hospital,” Maxwell said. “I was like, ‘bye baby, stay safe and I hope you feel better.’ I guess she told her parents who I was, and they came over and they thanked me.”
As far as being called a hero, Maxwell says she was just in the right place at the right time.
“I just thank God that I was there, cause if it was my daughter, I'd want someone to be there also.”
According to the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office, Gear was taken into custody Sunday night and charged with first-degree kidnapping and assault on a female.