Caught On Tape: Girl Fights Off Walmart Kidnapper

Dear Robin, George and GMA…

I think you missed the real point on your story about the little girl who was almost abducted by a man who was out on parole for man slaughter in the Atlanta Wal-Mart toy aisle. You mentioned that “all parents will be watching this with great interest”. Well they may have watched it but I doubt it will make an impression because you wound up sugar coating it.

It’s obvious the little 7 year old girl was very brave and thankfully she got the upper hand over this monster. But where you failed was that you should have focused more on the fact that parents should NEVER take their eyes off their children even for a second, especially in a place like Wal-Mart’s toy aisle. What was that mother thinking??? Would she have left her wallet alone on the floor for “a moment to go get fruit”? I doubt it so why would she leave her child?! Not to mention her SICK child (I understand she had strep throat as well). Yes it was great that you had the little girl discuss how she averted her kidnapping by kicking and screaming but did you at all mention that she shouldn’t have been alone in the first place??? NO, not at all. Did you ask the mother if she learned a lesson she could pass on to others on all this?? NO, not at all.

You had a real opportunity for a teaching moment here GMA and you blew it. Yes perhaps you didn’t want to make the mom feel worse than she already did, but I’m sorry…she should. And you probably only had three minutes to cover this because you had to move on and discuss something more important to your ratings…the Royal Family, but come on… America needs a wake up call on this!! Just ask John Walsh; he must cringe whenever he hears a story like this one. How many years has he been trying to bring these types of perpetrators to justice yet this type of situation still occurs. Why? Because not enough is said! Fortunately this had a much better outcome than his son’s did.

Today’s parents HAVE to get it into their heads that the village is NOT responsible for every child and stories such as this will continue to happen unless people wake up. They have to realize that although there may be security cameras around every corner these days, they are NOT a substitute to having parental control. They need to go back to holding their child’s hands and keeping them in sight at all times especially in vulnerable situations such as toy aisles. Not to mention the fact that if a parent starts letting them roam free at age 7 what will they allow them to do when they’re 15?? It’s time for society to pull in the reigns and quit expecting others to do it for them. We need to face that fact that the boogie man or woman is REAL and very motivated!

And finally for you to end the segment with the cutesy “alls-well-that-ends-well” upcoming Daddy Daughter Dance discussion just glazed over the real point. Shame on you GMA. Quit being such politically correct liberals and say what America really needs to hear! Change your name to Wake Up America and focus on teaching people real information not just touching the surface of things. If you spent more time on that then the “daily dose” about the current upcoming trials or what the beautiful people of Hollywood are doing you could set yourselves apart from the other morning “variety programs” on NBC and CBS and actually make a difference.

A Concerned Mother/Grandmother Citizen

I disagree with Sara Jane! I agree with Concerned Grandma!! Whenever I am out shopping, I see so many children from like 3 years of age to 10 unattended. You can never be too careful in today’s society. As a retired Early Childhood Educator, it breaks my heart to see parents leave their young children unattended in supermarkets, retail shopping centers, etc. When my son was young he was never, ever allowed to wander off. We also educated him, if a stranger tries to grab you, you scream, run, kick. And he came out all right. Better to be a helicopter parent, than allow your precious child to be assaulted or abducted!

Sarah.Jane…how much does your little 7 year old weigh??? 50 or 60 lbs?? Could she or he really defend themself against someone who’s potentially 3-4 times their weight and may even be packing cholorform??? I certainly wouldn’t count on it. You only get one shot in life with your children and I opt for the “helicopter” approach. My children are now 31 and 19 and your so called “bubble” didn’t seem to faze them. That’s ok though…if enough parents adhear to your kind of philosophy they’ll be plenty of targets available for these preditors…that way they won’t need to go for my loved ones.
P.S. I’m not paranoid… just a realist!

AMEN, Grandma!!!! The 1st thing that I thought of when hearing this story was SERIOUSLY???? What person with 1/4 a brain would EVER leave a child alone ANYWHERE??? And a Walmart store is HUGE…and the food section isn’t anywhere NEAR the toy area!!!! What the hell was that woman thinking??? SHE should be charged with child endangerment. If she had left her kid alone in a car & someone reported it, she would have gotten the book thrown at her!

Thank goodness she got away but as others have pointed out, Why in the world did the mother leave her kid alone in another aisle? Has she never heard what happened to JOHN WALSH’S son Adam? You can’t expect that someone else will be paying attention to your children while you are away. That family is lucky hopefully a lesson learned.

The girl is to be commended for taking the actions she did. I’m glad they caught the scumbag. WalMart attracts to many people like him.

Sarah.Jane – you must be one of those “the government will help me” types. Get a clue, no one can help you if you can help yourself. Teach your kids self-defense, get ‘em enrolled in a course that teaches “dirty tactics” (like a handful of nuts and crush ‘em; or a good solid punch and make a man go into the fetal position). There’s nothing fair in life, so you better get a grasp of reality.

And by the way, my children are 18 and 17 yrs old, alive, healthy, well adjusted and productive. They have also been taught to be careful of their surroundings, operate safely and correctly a firearm and how to defend themselves. My husband and I taught and guided our children. We didn’t hide and coddle them. We didn’t teach them to wait for someone else to take care of them like so many of you do. Apparently, we did something right! I’ll be glad to give lessons to you “simple minded” people for a small fee;)

ABC – glad you aired the story..hopefully some parents will take note and decide to protect their children better. The hero here is definitely the little girl. But there are 2 guilty parties.
1. The mother. She left a sick and vunerable child alone in a store. Does she read the news? Has she never heard of Adam Walsh. His mother left him alone in a toy aisle in the 1970′s – he was abducted, raped and brutally murdered. Why would she do such a thing?
2. The judicial system. They are saying the kidnapper was recently released after serving time for voluntary manslaughter. Most likely it was a reduced charge and really should have been a murder charge ( I intend to research, but I would bet my new car it is). Our system releases violent criminals back on the street to prey upon society. When will we get that they cannot be rehabilitated.
I don’t necessarily blame the abducter for this crime…he is doing what is in his nature. He’s a monster…he is behaving like a murderous monster..always seeking a new victim. No. I blame the parent making it easy for her daughter to become the prey to the ravenous beasts the courts consistently releases upon us.
Oh and GMA TOTALLY missed a chance to ring the alarm by being sickening sugary sweet politically correct and making this about a brave girl going to a father daughter dance. Sheesh.

Survivor, I don’t care how well trained a 7 year old is, I, as a 250 lb man, could snatch her if no one is watching. This guy was obviously not prepared. He could have punched this girl right in her face and stuffed a rag in her mouth. A couple of zip ties and she’s not kicking or punching. I train my own 6 year old daughter to yell, punch, kick, bite, even practicing with her, giving her a chance to fight to get away from me. But even with that practice, I realize that if I am determined, she won’t get away. There is no substitute for a parent’s watchful eye.

This mom needs some parenting classes. Who leaves a 2nd grader alone in a store like wal-mart?? I still remember the small Mexican girl that was kidnapped from a Wal-mart and killed. As long as we have careless parents like her in this world, kids will continue to go missing and be found dead in ditches.

The problem is, if you look at the layout of Walmart, you’ll find that the produce section is NO WHERE NEAR the toy aisle, kinda silly to say the mom was just a few aisles away when she was in the front of the store. good job at being a fail parent, bad things happen to people who do stuff like that. case in point. this video.

Interesting. I thought the point that was overlooked was that this jerk was only on jail for 4 yrs for murder. He should have still been there.

Isn’t the toy aisle in the back of the store and the produce aisle at the front in EVERY Wal-Mart in this country? She’s never gonna let her daughter out of her sight? WTH, she should have done that in the first place. I have a seven-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter and keep them…you know, in the same aisle with me.

I am so glad someone said EXACTLY what I was thinking. My first thought was that the groceries and the toy aisle are NOWHERE near each other. 2 very opposite ends of the store. A 7 year old for goodness sake?? When I move somewhere I ALWAYS make it my business to check watchdog to find out how many offenders are in my town, where they live, if they live or work near a park, zoo or school that I frequent. I just don’t understand the mentality of this mother to let her 7 year old wander off. I make it my business to know where my child is and that they are right next to me because I KNOW there are people out there that would love to swoop my kid up in a heartbeat. Do you know the percentage of murder being committed if your child is not found within the first 24 hours? Good for this little girl though.

I agree with the majoirty of you people. When i was 7 years old i was NEVER out of my mothers sites. We lived in Miami Beach, Florida and she knew better then to let me wonder around. I am a mother myself now of a 5 year old boy who likes to TRY to run off and be a kid but i never let him out of my site. its not coddleing or being too over protective, its being a damn parent. how many kids go missing every day? And yes i agree that this horrbible excuse of a person should have been let out on manslaughter charges and then just a few days later tries to kid nap a little girl. The mother should have never left her sick child to go half way across the store to go shopping. My son likes the toy section too but that doesnt mean im gonna let him stay there on his own while i go to my own thing. thats messed up. First of all, my son knows to follow me and stay close to me. He wouldnt even want to stay there by himself if i wanted to leave him alone which i never would. I think its sad that in this day in age parents dont get that you should keep your child in plain site at all times, some parents dont want to coddle or “suffocate” their kids and you dont have to in order to keep them safe. We live in a world where there are sick individuals out there unfortuneatley and it sucks but we have to co-exist with these creeps and its up to us parents to ensure the safety of our kids. Thank god the little girl did what she did or else there would have been another child gone missing and all cause her mother wanted to go shopping. I think she was very irresponsible for doing so and as for the man im glad he is back where he belongs and hopefully they get the hint that he shouldnt be living among us.

Kudos to K Infanti for starting this very important dialogue. I am in total agreement with the sensible majority on the gravity of this topic. I just want to broaden the scope by adding one sidenote dynamic, on a different concern level. It is becoming increasingly standard to find myself amongst unattended or ignored children in many settings. Sometimes the parent is present but too wrapped up in a cell phone coversation to notice or respond to inappropriate behavior. I have observed children in airline terminals who are misbehaving or just disturbing others with their voice volume. Has this little 7-year old worldy Wal Mart shopper been given shopping ettiquette guidelines so as not to disturb the toy aisle displays? Who will come to her aid if she gets hurt while reaching for something? I have raised children, and I love children, but part of my job was to closely monitor them, not only for their safety but out of respect for others. I don’t appreciate Hilary appointing me as one of the villagers to monitor someone else’s children.

Lauren said: First of all, my son knows to follow me and stay close to me.

My daughter just reminded me of the time she was small. We were at a K-Mart many years ago and I was looking at something by a clothing rack. My daughter was right next to me, but when I turned around, in a split second she was gone. So, having your kid ‘follow you’, does not always work. Turns out she was hiding in the clothing rack and thought it was funny, at age 3, to not answer me. I was frantic, but this goes to show that no matter how close your kid is, or how great a parent you think you are…stuff can still happen. This lady was neglectful…but I’m just saying that even with your kid standing right next to you, they can ‘disappear’.

I am not a parent but I totally agree with most of the posts here on the site. I have nieces and nephews and when we are out and about and they want to go to a candy or toy aisle I never allow them to go alone. I don’t care what their parents will allow them to do because when they are with me I am responsible for their well-being. I recently went on a cruise and I was quite surprised about the number of children who appeared to be anywhere from 4 – 9 years of age who were running around without a parent in sight. Parents have a false sense of security and think that nothing bad will happen to their children. Not everyone has the best interest of your child at heart. This mother probably didn’t want to be bothered by her child while she was doing her shopping. It would’ve been better for her to hire a babysitter and keep her child safe at home instead of dropping her off in the toy aisle. I am so happy that this child was able to fight off her abducter, but how much better would her life be if she never had to experience this situation in the first place? This parent and all the other parents out there who allow their children to roam around without proper supervision should be ashamed of themselves.

watching your children is not keeping them in a bubble. every walmart i’ve been to the toy section is on the other side of the store than the food isles. so if she stepped away to get some fruit she was clear across the store. not a couple isles over. if she’d been a couple isles over she’d have heard her child screaming and come running. you can give your child some freedom and still keep your eye on them. leaving them alone in a large store like walmart and going where you can’t even hear them is not the way to do it.

If she was too sick to go to school, Why did Mom have her out shopping? Then she just leaves her alone? That Mom should be locked up as well.

Some of the people who post on comments don’t or can’t remember what it’s like to be a parent. The mother probably had plans to go shopping when she thought her child would be in school. They may not have had a lot of food in the house or she had a stacked schedule so plans may not have been able to change.

You don’t know the layout of every Walmart and the child doesn’t really look like she’s in the actual toy department. So it’s hard to say where she was in relationship to the mother. Plus knowing how I’d be I probably wouldn’t really remember what I was doing since the fear of learning or hearing my child scream would have been too much.

Children can be unpleasant sometimes and refuse to leave a section of a store and it would be so tempting to leave them there for a moment. I only have a 4 year old so he’s in the cart but children can be so frustrating or some act like mini adults that you do things that you tell yourself you wouldn’t do. You guys aren’t thinking real world situation here.

Parents need to parent both by keeping our kids close and teaching them what to do in trouble situations but for you guys to make this about Brittney’s mom and say things like she should be locked up. She’s already eating herself up.

The people who hurt children are the bad guys here.