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Police say a North Carolina girl, 12, was kidnapped by a 38-year-old man, who allegedly forced her into his truck before she was miraculously able to escape while he was parked at a DMV office.
Daniel Gear allegedly abducted the girl, who has not been identified by authorities, while she was hanging out with his niece at his home on Aug. 16, WNCN reported.
According to an arrest warrant, Gear abducted the girl without the consent of her parents or guardians with the intent of “terrorizing” her. Gear also pushed the girl to the ground and unlawfully restrained her, per court records.
The Harnett County Sheriff’s Office told WNCN that at around 1 p.m., investigators discovered that Gear and his pickup truck had vanished from his home in Lillington, a small town roughly 30 miles south of Raleigh.
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Harnett County Sheriff’s deputies, along with Erwin police, launched a manhunt for Gear using drones and K-9 units, WNCN reported.
Investigators said the girl managed to get away from Gear when he parked his pickup truck at a DMW office in Erwin, a town 11 miles southeast of Lillington.
The child flagged down a driver, Jennifer Maxwell, who sat down with WRAL for an interview.
“I was almost at the 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 said. “And she kind of just dropped in a ditch and was just crying hysterically.”
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Maxwell continued: “I pulled over to her and I rolled down my window and I was like, ‘Baby, are you okay?’ And she was like, ‘No, I’ve been kidnapped.'”
Maxwell described the girl, who was wearing no shoes, as “all scratched up.” She said she called 911 immediately.
The girl told Maxwell that the man who kidnapped her woke her up in the middle of the night and told her to get in his car, according to the WRAL interview.
After that, the girl said he pulled off into a wooded area and made her walk for “a couple of hours” while he repeatedly pushed her and grabbed her shoulder, Maxwell said.
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Roughly seven hours after the girl escaped, deputies found Gear in a wooded area along U.S. Highway 421 and placed him under arrest, WNCN reported.
Gear was charged with first-degree kidnapping and assault on a female. He is being held in jail on a $2.5 million secured bond. He is scheduled to appear in court for a probable cause hearing on Sept. 1.
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