John Elder, director of police information at the Minneapolis Police Department, told CBS that the majority of car thefts take place when a vehicle is running and occupied. The most terrifying cases of these thefts occur when vehicles are stolen with children inside.
That's exactly what happened one Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. The mother of a 1-year-old boy named Da’Merion buckled him into a car seat in the back of her Jeep, then ran back inside to grab something. She left the car running and quickly returned outside.
She was horrified when she stepped back outside and realized the Jeep — and her baby — were both missing. Someone had stolen the vehicle, kidnapping Da’Merion in the process.
Police issued an Amber Alert and hoped someone out there would see and say something.
As luck would have it, a neighbor named Barb Gusse noticed a car sitting idle in the parking lot across from her house. She called her daughter in tears, with a nagging suspicion that something wasn't right.
Barb has nine grandchildren and was immediately struck with emotion when the Amber Alert popped up on her phone. "This car's been sitting here for a while," she told her daughter.
Watch the video below to see how this situation unfolded … and why Barb is being hailed a watchful hero.
