Amber Alert Comes to Miraculous End When 3-Year-Old Girl Is Found Safe Inside Crashed Car
Losing sight of a young child is scary enough, but having them taken from you and knowing someone kidnapped them is even more terrifying.
Destiny Boykins, a 3-year-old girl, was taken by her biological father early Sunday morning. He managed to get her away from her mother at the apartment complex where the girl and her mother lived in Gastonia, North Carolina.
The events leading up to the abduction have not been released, but an Amber Alert went out at 5:30 a.m., shocking nearby neighbors who’d never met the girl or her mother.
Destiny’s biological father, 57-year-old Maurice Knox, was believed to be on his way to Charlotte, North Carolina. Police found his car at two and a half hours after the alert went out, but it was abandoned.
Knox had ditched his car, most likely knowing that people were on the lookout for it, and managed to find another one. The hunt continued.
Perdina Davis used to see Destiny because she ran a day care that the young girl attended. Davis said that she was concerned for the girl’s safety, according to WSOC.
“I’ve always been concerned for her safety, but this is not the first time this has happened,” Davis said, adding that she happened to know that there was a restraining order against Knox that was supposed to keep him away from Destiny and Destiny’s mother.
“I understand he’s her father, but when you are a risk to her safety, that should take precedent over who you are in her life,” Davis said. Despite the concern, Davis revealed that the mother was still letting Destiny’s father be involved.
Police eventually found Knox in Charlotte. When they attempted to pull him over, Knox led them on a chase that ended in a wreck.
Three cars were involved, and cops scrambled to assess the situation and retrieve the young girl. Fortunately, though she hadn’t been in a car seat, the seat belt she was wearing had protected her and she came out of the incident with minor injuries.
Three cars were involved in the crash, and four people were taken to the hospital for more serious injuries. Knox was arrested, and now faces a long list of charges on top of prior convictions.
He’s not only being charged with kidnapping and child endangerment, but also for DWI, domestic trespass and entering, felonious restraint, assault on a female, assault on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, felony child abuse and neglect, felony flee to elude a law enforcement officer, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of felony serious injury by motor vehicle.
The girl has been reunited with her mother, and hopefully now Knox will stay far away from them for good.
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