Crashed car with 'kidnapped' baby inside that cops missed for 14 hours

11 July 2023 , 19:26

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Nine-month-old Harlow Freeman was missing for around 14 hours (Image: Parrish Police Department / Facebook)

After the dramatic search and eventual safe recovery of a nine-month-old who went missing when the car she was left in vanished, photos have emerged showing the car which had ended up in undergrowth across the road.

Nine-month-old Harlow Darby Freeman was reported missing after she was left in the back of her dad's white Lexus SUV as he briefly ran into a friend's house he had parked outside in Parrish, Alabama. When he came back outside at around 6.50pm Monday night, July 10, the car, and his infant daughter were both gone.

A frantic search for the missing child ensued, with concerns that a car thief had seized the opportunity and grabbed the car, taking the child with them. An amber alert for Harlow was issued at 9.40pm last night, with friends and family gathered waiting for news on the missing child.

Questions have arisen as to how police managed to miss the car on their first three searches but find it on the fourth (ABC 33/40)

Harlow was taken to hospital as a precaution where she was said to be suffering dehydration but otherwise was ok (Facebook)

Her mother, Bethany Smith, even posted frantic statuses to Facebook, pleading with who she believed was her daughter's kidnapper to return her home safely. In the end, the tot was found around 14 hour after she went missing, still in the white Lexus.

Police believe the car's parking brake may have been off, either her dad forgot to put it on, or potentially someone came and took it off. On their fourth search of the area, using both officers on foot and a state helicopter, the car was spotted in a dense patch of kudzu (Japanese or Chinese arrowroot) across the road on Crest Avenue.

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Photos of the scene where the car was found tangled in the undergrowth have led people to question just how the vehicle was missed on three separate searches of the area.

After baby Harlow's recovery and return to her family, Parrish Police Chief Danny Woodard said: "Daylight was our friend on this one." He confirmed that an investigation is ongoing, but they do not believe the car was stolen, and that Harlow was found still in her car seat.

She was in the back of the family's white Lexus SUV when both she and the car went missing

He said one of the windows had been broken from an unrelated incident, so she had some ventilation in the car overnight. Baby Harlow was taken to the Children's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, as a precaution, and is said to have been dehydrated but in a good condition.

Chief Woodard said it was possible either her father forgot to put it in park as he ran into his friend's house, allowing it to roll hundreds of yards down a large embankment before coming to rest in the thick vegetation. He also suggest someone else could have taken the car out of park, though he said: "We're just not sure yet."

Under the belief that her child had been kidnapped as the car was stolen, Ms Smith wrote several desperate appeals on Facebook. She said: "all I ask for is my baby back. Y'all can keep the car!!! Just bring me my baby and no questions asked!"

In another update she wrote: "If you know where my baby is or how I can get to her. I will meet you with no questions asked. Please just give me back my baby... I'm begging you to please bring my baby to me."

Footage from the scene after Harlow was found showed cheers and sobbing from friends, family and loved ones who had gathered overnight as the search for the missing child continued. One woman can be seen jumping for joy as she speaks to another person at the scene, with others seen hugging each other, crying and screaming with joy and relief.

Fiona Leishman