Steph Deschamps / November 9, 2021
A 16-year-old girl from North Carolina was reported missing by her parents last week in the United States, according to the American media CNN. Two days later, a motorist from Kentucky, a state further west of North Carolina, called 911 to report seeing a girl in distress in the back of a vehicle on the highway.
The teenager had actually made a hand gesture known on the social network TikTok to represent violence in the home. The signal had been devised by the Canadian Women's Foundation, after the increase in the number of domestic violence incidents following repeated confinement. The gesture in question? The hand raised with the palm turned outwards and the thumb tucked into the palm, then the fist clenched still with the thumb in the palm of the hand.
According to CNN, Kentucky police explained that the girl had indeed learned about the gesture on TikTok. The person who made contact with law enforcement was also familiar with the hand signal. After dialing 911, the motorist actually stayed behind the vehicle for several miles to relay information to police. We don't know how long she had been doing this to other motorists on the Ohio Turnpike, hoping they would notice she was in distress, but finally someone recognized her, Laurel County Sheriff's Deputy Gilbert Acciardo told CNN.
The kidnapper was finally arrested and the girl rescued.