It is the stuff of nightmares. A California mom, received a terrifying call from a kidnapper saying he had her daughter. The criminal demanded a ransom of a mere $500.
That's when the mother, who is choosing to remain anonymous, looked to her friend Cheryl McDaniels for support. McDaniels had a feeling something was off about this kidnapping. But what is a mother to do?
The voice on the phone was hostile, threatening, and the truth was, the mother couldn't get a hold of one of her daughters by phone. Maybe he really had her?
"He was hammering, hammering at me, 'don't talk to anybody. Don't call anybody,'" the victim said of the phone call," she told FOX40.
The man on the phone said if she called the police, his daughter would be dead. McDaniels told her friend that she should call the police anyway. She had the mom put the criminal on speaker phone and recorded the call.
They called but officers couldn't track down one of her older daughters. Then it happened, her daughter pulled up into the driveway. The whole thing was a scam.
"One of my daughters we couldn't reach by phone, she drove up, and I just balled. I came apart," she said.
Fox40 traced the number back to a city in Thailand, but the voice message said the number was out of order. McDaniels came forward to warn other parents about this horrifying scam.
"This just needs to get out there because there are parents out there, and grandmothers out there who would just give anything for their kids and not know," McDaniels said.
If you receive a call like this, notify the police, and try to track down your family members.
Please SHARE this story to warn others about this "kidnapping scam."
