COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Two young women were in the right place at the right time Tuesday, playing a major role in helping reunite a child with his mother after her vehicle was stolen with the baby still in it.
Police say the vehicle and child were found in the area of North Ohio Avenue and Hildreth Avenue, more than 11 miles from where the child was taken. The child was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for precautionary reasons.
Taeyonna Webb and Nave Dowe said in the moment they found the baby, all they could thing of is his mother and her fear during the whole situation.
The two women called in the tip to police after spotting the wanted vehicle and seeing the baby in the car. Law enforcement awarded them with coins for their quick thinking.
The pair said they got the Amber Alerts on their phones earlier this morning, but the second alert is really what caught their attention.
Webb said she was charging her phone and the Amber Alert went off the second time when she was near the intersection of Ohio and Hildreth avenues.
That is when she spotted the Acura with the license plate that was listed on the alert she had received just moments before.
“I’m driving slow, it’s snow out here,” Webb said. “So I’m driving slow and I see this big red Acura just sitting here and I’m, like, ‘Maybe it’s somebody’s that live here,’ and I checked the Amber Alert again and I see the plates.”
Both women said it’s thanks to that second Amber Alert which drew their attention to the SUV and ultimately baby Alpha.
“I stopped, she got out and ran to the car to check if anybody was in it,” Webb said. “There was nobody in the car, but there was a baby.”
“Calm, I opened the door and the baby just looked at me and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Dowe added.
The women then called the police, who later gave them the special coins for helping find the child.
Both said they were happy to help, saying all they could think about during the situation was the child’s mother.
“It does because if I was a mother, I know, I know the mother is probably in shock right now, not knowing if she would ever see her baby again,” Webb said.
Both said they urge people to be on the look out when something like this happens again.
“If you see or hear an Amber Alert, don’t just blow past it like, ‘They’ll find it,’” Webb said. “You never know, just like us. I didn’t think I would ever come across a kidnapping car. Like, don’t blow past things like that.”
