Teen girl escapes kidnapping with hand signal learned on TikTok
Global News
The hand gesture was originally created by a Canadian organization to help victims of domestic violence signal distress.
A kidnapped North Carolina teenager was rescued by police last week after signalling for help using a hand gesture she learned on TikTok.
The 16-year-old used the hand signal, originally meant as a nonverbal cue to help victims of domestic abuse, to signal distress to a passing motorist.
The 911 caller called Kentucky authorities Thursday to report that they saw the underage passenger flash the sign, which consists of tucking your thumb into your open palm and then closing your fingers down over your thumb.
The “Signal for Help” campaign was started by the Canadian Women’s Federation in 2020, and has spread across social media in that time. It began as a way for people to alert others to possible troubles at home, at a time when many people became housebound due to the pandemic.
According to the Laurel Country Sheriff’s office, investigators were able to stop the vehicle as it exited the highway and learned that the teen has been reported missing by her parents from Asheville, N.C. two days earlier.
“I really believe that this girl’s life was saved,” police spokesman, Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, told ABC.
The driver that alerted authorities was able to follow the car, giving mile markers as they passed, and told police when the vehicle left the highway.
The deadly haze covered monuments and high-rise buildings in the capital of New Delhi, with visibility so low that airlines warned of delays.
The death is being investigated by federal authorities but "the preliminary cause" has been ruled an accident.
The incident took place more than a month ago, on October 13, but it wasn't reported until the British tabloids got wind of the story.
Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.
Washington is easing limits on what Ukraine can strike with U.S.-made weaponry, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.
Concerns storm surges could raise water levels between one and three feet above ground level as Tropical Storm Sara makes landfall in Belize.
Air defenses could be heard engaging drones over Kyiv in the night, and a series of powerful blasts rang out across the city as the missile attack was under way in the morning.
John Kirton, head of the G20 Research Group, says the forum is the main tool countries have to prepare for the second Donald Trump presidency.
Israeli airstrikes on the village of Khreibeh in the Baalbek District of eastern Lebanon killed six people on Saturday, including three children the Lebanese health ministry said.
The APEC summit marked the end of trade talks that should lead to Canada signing a new deal with the world's fourth-most populous country next year.