Missing Black Girl Found! Philly Woman Caught On Surveillance Being Snatched Off The Street While Walking Home Found Alive In Maryland

Carlesha Freeland Gaither is home safe tonight.

Carlesha Freeland Gaither Found Alive After Violent Abduction

Recall the graphic surveillance video that caught a Philadelphia woman being brutally kidnapped from a city street on her way home last week? Thanks to an outpouring of concern and vigilance by the general public, the vehicle she was placed in was spotted states away in Maryland…leading to her safe return home. Via NBCnews:

Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, the 22-year-old woman violently abducted from a Philadelphia street on Sunday, has been found alive in Maryland and man police described as a “vicious predator” has been arrested for the kidnapping.

“I’m taking my baby home. Thank you,” Keisha Gaither, the woman’s overjoyed mother, told the public at a news conference Wednesday night. Her family erupted into applause as the woman spoke.

Freeland-Gaither was rescued from the car of her alleged kidnapper, 37-year-old Delvin Barnes, along the side of a road in Jessup, Maryland, officials said. She has suffered some injuries and is being taken to a nearby hospital in Columbia, Maryland for treatment, police said. She’s expected to recover.

“It’s very special for all of us. You hope, you hope, you hope, but you don’t always know that it will end this way,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said.

Edward Hanko, special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia division, said agents acted on tips from the public to help track down Barnes’ car. Authorities tracked his car on Wednesday and a FBI Task Force from the agency’s Baltimore office moved in to take him into custody when he exited his car along the 7200 block of Waterloo Road in Jessup, Hanko said.

Barnes, who has ties to Philadelphia, apparently attacked Freeland-Gaither at random, detectives said. He is being held on a bench warrant out of Virginia for alleged capital attempted murder in Charles City County.

“He’s a thug and this is what he does apparently,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said of the alleged abductor. “He’s a vicious predator. He’s off the streets.”

Barnes will be charged federally in the alleged kidnapping and assault, Hanko said.

Thankfully she made it home safe and sound! A case like this could easily have gone quite differently. Ladies always be aware of your surroundings — sickos like Barnes are out there everywhere.

NBCnews