Hero Pizza Shop Staffer Saves Kidnapped 7-Year-Old During Smoke Break

An employee at a Texas pizza shop is responsible for the rescue of a kidnapped boy after she identified the abductor’s car from an Amber Alert that appeared on her cellphone.

On Thursday, Courtney Best decided to take her daily smoke break in front of Papa Murphy’s pizza shop in Corpus Christi, instead of in back, as she usually does. The change of routine was a good thing, because as she was looking at her phone in front of the shop, Best noticed a white Dodge Avenger pull into the parking lot. “I stepped outside, I was standing by the trashcan, and I [saw] a white car pull up, and I just happen to take my phone with me, ’cause we don’t look at our phones at work, and I looked down and I saw ‘white Dodge Avenger Amber Alert,’ and I was like, ‘Nah, that’s not him,’” Best told KRIS TV. The boy who had been abducted was 7-year-old Nicolas Gomez. “The man was walking across the parking lot looking at me … ‘cause I was the only person out here, with the little boy, and the little boy looked scared, and I was like, ‘no, that’s not him.’”

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Nicolas Gomez was returned safely home after Courtney Best spotted his abductor in a parking lot. (Photo: KRIS TV)

When the two walked into the nearby dollar store, Best decided to check the man’s plates, just in case. She got in her own car and drove past the white Avenger, noting the license plate number as she did. The plates matched those on the Amber Alert. Best called the police, told them that the suspect was now driving away, and reported the street he turned onto. Soon after, the suspect was arrested, and Nicolas was returned home safely.

Best told KRIS TV that she rarely pays attention to alerts on her phone. “I usually don’t even look at Amber Alerts, as bad as that sounds. I look at them, and I don’t really pay attention,” she says. “And I was like, he couldn’t get from [Alice, the city where Nicolas was abducted, to Corpus Christi] in that little bit of time. Sure enough, it was him.”

Related: Here’s What Experts Had to Say About That Viral Child-Abduction Video

Yahoo Parenting wasn’t able to reach Best for comment.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 17 children have been rescued since the Wireless Emergency Alert program, which sends Amber Alerts to cellphones, began in 2013. Michelle Boykins, senior director of communications for the National Crime Prevention Council, says it’s every citizen’s responsibility to pay attention when an alert pops up on their phone. “Think about it from the perspective of: law enforcement needs your help,” she tells Yahoo Parenting. “In a situation where a child has been abducted, time is of the essence. Anything law enforcement can do to get the community involved and get them to be eyes and ears is essential in getting that child back home safely. If you have an Amber Alert that comes over your phone with a description of a child or a car that someone is driving, those are things that should make you hyper-vigilant. You can be the difference between a child coming home and a child never coming home.”

And while it may seem unlikely that you will be in just the right place at the right time, look at Courtney Best. “No one wants to be in the situation of, ‘I saw that person, and I didn’t do anything,’” Boykins says. “You want to be the woman in this story who saw the alert, paid attention, and decided to be vigilant and proactive about looking out.”

Should you ever notice suspicious activity or identify someone from an Amber Alert, notify authorities immediately. “Your job as a citizen is to call law enforcement. Do not take the law into your own hands,” she says. “Some people may think it’s a good idea to try and get involved, but the involvement the police want is for you to report. Let the professionals take it from there. If you can snap a picture, that might help police get more descriptive with what information they have. Or take down as much information as possible: What were the cross streets? What car were they driving? Did they stop at the gas station? But do so without putting yourself in any danger. If you get involved personally, you could put yourself in danger and further endanger the life of the child.”

Best told KRIS TV that moving forward, she’ll pay closer attention to any Amber Alerts she sees.

(Top photo: KRIS TV)

Yahoo Parenting has chosen this story, originally published on July 10, as an example of one of our best of 2015.

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