After Kidnapped and Raped, College Student's Quick Thinking Outsmarts Monster and Saves Her Life
Jaila Gladden of Carrollton, Georgia, had no idea what her night would be like when she ran out to the store to get a few groceries — tea and medicine.
It was late, around 11:30 p.m., when she exited the store with a few bags of groceries. A man approached her, asking her for a lighter.
She thought nothing of it when she answered that she didn’t have one and went to her car. The next thing she knew, she was getting into her car and the man was brandishing a knife at her.
Even when she tried to convince him not to, he coldly told her that her tears would change nothing.
After that, he wanted to rob a gas station, and Gladden managed to convince him to give her her phone back so she could help him find the location he was looking for.
While trying to keep him from getting suspicious, she sent her location to her boyfriend, Tamir Bryant. Her boyfriend, who normally slept like a log, somehow woke up to her desperate message.
Later on, he said the only reason he woke up must have been because of God. Also, the ringtone he’d set for Gladden was unique, so that alerted him to the fact that she was trying to contact him at an unusual hour.
It was around 2:00 a.m. when Bryant got the location notification. He texted back, asking “Why are you there?”
Her response nearly stopped his heart: “Kidnapped.” He knew that she wouldn’t joke about that sort of thing, and quickly got to his feet and started waking up his roommates and telling them what had happened.
He was scared, again, when she texted him “knife,” “scared,” and told him not to call 911. He knew the only reason she’d do that was if there was a weapon involved and she was worried about her safety, but he headed to the nearest police station.
Meanwhile, Gladden was being stuffed in the trunk of her own car as her assailant, Timothy Wilson, attempted and failed to rob a gas station. He wanted to try robbing another location, so off they went. Again.
Bryant was able to work with the police to identify Gladden’s car and start looking for her. The last text she sent was “Don’t let me die,” to which Bryant responded, “We’ve got help coming.”
Wilson had decided to park in a parking lot of a store overnight and try robbing the store in the morning. A patrolling police officer saw the car that matched the description of the kidnapped girl’s and headed toward it.
In a frenzy, Wilson tore out of the parking lot, hitting several cars including the officer’s car. He then went a short distance again before hitting a fence.
Gladden was able to get out of the car and start running toward the police, sending Bryant a Facetime video as she ran from the scene.
“If I didn’t get the location, who knows what would have happened,” Bryant later said. “Her doing it on her own — she was able to outsmart the bad guy.”
Fortunately, Gladden used her intelligence and awareness to outsmart her attacker. And now you know, too, what you can do if you’re ever in an emergency situation and have access to your phone.
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