Hand Signal from TikTok Video Saves Girl’s Life

A 16-year old missing teenager from Asheville, North Carolina was rescued by the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky after she signaled for help from the passenger window while traveling down Interstate 75 by using a hand gesture known on TikTok to represent violence at home. On November 4, a motorist in Kentucky saw her making the hand motion from behind the vehicle. The motorist called 911 and continued to follow the vehicle relaying information for seven miles.

According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, this hand gesture is a one-handed sign someone can use when in distress. Someone using the signal holds their hand up with their palm facing out, then tucks their thumb into their hand and then closes their fingers to trap thumb.

Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said, “We don’t know how long coming down the interstate from Ohio that she had been doing this to other motorists hoping that they would notice that she was in distress, but finally someone did recognize.”

Here is a video by Laurel County Sheriff Deputy describing the hand signal.

Here is the video by the Canadian’s Women Foundation which explains it.

The girl told investigators that she had traveled with the accused man through North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, where he had family. He left the family after they learned that the girl was a minor and that she had been reported missing by her family. She said she began trying to get motorists’ attention as they traveled south from Ohio.

Police arrested the man and charged him with unlawful imprisonment and possession of child pornography from images of her on his phone.

As I Read the Story…

As I read this story this week, I kept thinking to myself that I would not have recognized the signal. With three teenagers at home, I would not want someone driving by one of them and missing this silent signal. I immediately knew I wanted to pass the signal on to others. Thank God some motorist knew the signal, he then called 911, and they were able to rescue her. Most missing children reports do not come down like this. The police officer remarked that he had never seen anything more fulfilling in his over 40-year career.

 

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