Losing your child in broad daylight — right before your eyes — is every parent's worst nightmare. When it happens at the hands of a child abductor, the reality is even more terrifying. And yet no matter how vigilant we remain, the fact is, some 2,000 children go missing in the United States each day, and approximately 115 of them are kidnapped by strangers. On June 22, a family traveling from Atlanta to Orlando almost became one of those statistics, when a stranger approached them and allegedly attempted to kidnap their two children, but luckily, failed.
The shocking incident happened at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, and was captured on surveillance video.
In it, 26-year-old Esther Daniels of Kansas can be seen approaching a couple and their two children, grabbing a stroller, and allegedly trying to make off with it. Luckily, the mother spotted Daniels immediately, and fended her off before she could get away — but not before Daniels attempted to grab the couple's second child, who was standing nearby.
At that point, the father stepped in, and the commotion between the two was seen by an Atlanta police traffic control officer, who sprinted toward them.
The officer reportedly "raced across the airport atrium" and immediately broke up the alledged attempted kidnapping.
Once there, the female officer held Daniels until backup arrived.
“She deserves all the praise,” said TaSheena Brown, a spokeswoman for Atlanta police. “Especially for her to have been working, really, in a civilian capacity, for her to just to jump in right away with no hesitation is amazing."
The parents, who have not been identified publicly, are no doubt singing her praises, too. Before the incident, they'd been on their way to Orlando to spend a happy week in Disney World with their kids — but the shocking kidnapping attempt no doubt left them terrified to take their children into another busy public space.
While an investigation is still ongoing, Daniels is said to have been behaving "erratically."
“Her behavior was very erratic, but we can’t really speak on what her mental state was, but we can agree that what she did was very erratic and odd, to say the least,” Brown said, according to WSBTV.
All told, it took three officers to subdue Daniels, and when they finally did, she was placed in a wheelchair and carted off to the nearest precinct.
“That’s why we go through our training and make sure, of course, we’re able to get that person in custody, hopefully without any injuries or anything like that," Brown said. "But they had to do what they needed to do in order to subdue her to put her into custody."
Stories like these send a chill up the spine, especially considering all that we now know about the dark underworld of child trafficking.
According to the International Labour Organization, over 40.3 million people worldwide are involved in human trafficking (otherwise known as modern slavery). Child victims, whether they're used for labor, sex, or organ trafficking, come from a variety of backgrounds, range in age from 1 to 18, and include both boys and girls.
Still, while Daniels' motive has not yet been released to the public, it's hard to say what her intent was if she'd successfully taken one or both of the children. What is known is that the parents of those two kiddos are among the lucky ones who didn't have to suffer the agonizing pain of losing a child in such a tragic way. And hopefully, their story helps make other parents more vigilant and aware of the potential dangers that unfortunately exist when we take our kids into busy, public spaces.
For now, Daniels has been charged and is being held without bond in the Clayton County Jail and is scheduled to appear before a judge for a preliminary hearing on July 11.
