Good Samaritans often reveal themselves when they are most needed and least expected.
As fate would have it, one such hero had recently helped save a young girl from a potential kidnapper.
It was early in the morning on February 21, 2018, when Amy Martinez, a 12-year-old girl, was on the way to her school. At around 7:45 am, however, she was approached by a suspicious 34-year-old Claudia Hernandez Diaz.
The woman, who was described by Amy as dirty and without shoes, allegedly tried kidnapping the young girl. She wrapped Amy in a tight bear hug and started dragging her away. “She just came up to me and went like this,” Amy explained while reenacting the bear hug. “And then, she started walking with me away.”
Despite her struggles to break free, Amy was unable to escape the kidnapper’s tight hug. Fortunately, one mother, who decided to remain anonymous, saw the whole thing and prevented it from getting any worse.
Since she is also a mother herself, she immediately knew that there was something off about that bear hug and the woman involved. According to her, it just didn’t look right.
Claudia Hernandez Diaz
CBS Los Angeles / YouTube
The mom followed Amy and Claudia with her car and asked the girl if she was okay. At that moment, “the victim looked at her and shook her head, ‘no,’ and she could see the fright in her eyes,” Anthony Bertagna, the Santa Ana Police Corporal, reported.
That’s when the good Samaritan’s suspicions were confirmed, so she decided to step up for the young girl to protect her. She started pretending that she is Amy’s mother and told Claudia to let her go. Eventually, the kidnapper released the 12-year-old who immediately rushed towards her savior.
After the incident, the anonymous mother returned Amy to her family. They instantly notified the police about what happened, and the officers soon arrested Claudia for kidnapping.
While this story has a good ending, we should practice caution in our everyday lives to prevent incidents such as these from turning into a tragedy.
Please share this post to raise the awareness and don’t forget to comment!