An 8-year-old Maryland boy is home safe with his family after investigators say a woman abducted him on his way to school.
About 8:30 a.m. Thursday, the boy was waiting near his bus stop in the Brians Road area of Charles County when a woman in a white Chevy Malibu pulled up and asked him to get in the car, the Charles County Sheriff's Office said. At first, the boy refused, but he eventually got in the car, authorities said.
The woman, identified as 64-year-old Krystal Ninette Clay, drove about a mile before stopping in the middle of Chapman's Landing Road near Mount Aventine, the sheriff's office said.
"We don't know what her intentions were. I don't know if we'll ever find that out," said Diane Richardson, spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
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Deputies said an alert neighbor noticed something was strange and came out to investigate.
"She wanted to find out what was going on, if she could help in anyway. And I think it was a shock to her to find out that this little boy said he was not OK and that he asked for help. And he just basically clung to her," Richardson said.
Richardson applauded the actions of the good Samaritan.
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"She went with her instincts and she called 911, which is what we would ask anybody to do," Richardson said.
"We were able to determine that the driver had no permission whatsoever to pick up this child," Richardson said.
Deputies arrested Clay and charged her with abducting a child under 12, which is a felony.
“For a woman to grab a kid and abduct him — that’s just — I don’t have the words for it,” neighbor Dennis Tomlinson told News4.
“I’m glad people do step up because a lot of people are so afraid to step up anymore, they’re afraid they’re going to get in trouble or someone's going to think bad of them, or whatever. But I’m glad they did that," Tomlinson said.
The sheriff's office is asking anyone who has any information about the case to call them at 301-609-3282.
