Car blog

Police get stolen car but saddled with 5 infants
AP

Beijing: Chinese police pleaded with the public yesterday for information about five newborn babies discovered in the back of a stolen car.

The three boys and two girls, all about 10-days-old, were found in the backseat of a black four-door sedan when police stopped the car at a toll booth in north China’s Hebei province on Sunday, said Zhang Lianying, the director of Nangong city’s highway patrol.

Police have confirmed the car was stolen two weeks ago in Shanghai, 700 miles south of Nangong, Zhang said. But he said they have been unable to identify any of the babies.

The Beijing Youth Daily and several other papers yesterday published photos of the five babies swaddled in blankets and lying close to each other on a bed with numbers above their heads.

Identification problem

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The Youth Daily ran a banner headline above the pictures asking: “Does anyone know the moms and dads of these five babies?” It also included the number of a hot line in Nangong.

China has a thriving trade in babies that are stolen or bought from poor families and then sold to couples who want another child, a servant, or a future bride for a son.

The car caught the attention of a highway patrolman when its driver suddenly switched lanes while waiting to pay the toll.

When police tried to question the driver, he and another male in the passenger seat refused to get out or roll down their windows. A minute later, they suddenly jumped out brandishing knives and ran away, Zhang said. Police gave chase but failed to catch them, he said.

Zhang said that once police found the five babies in the backseat, they were immediately taken to a local hospital, where doctors said they were in good health and all about the same age.

Nangong is 150 miles southwest of Beijing.

Thousands of babies are also abandoned every year in China.

Many are girls given up by couples who, bound by rules that limit most urban families to one child, want to try to have a son.

Surveillance video shows missing Kansas teen being forced into car from parking lot
By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER, Associated Press Writer

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A surveillance video shows a missing 18-year-old being forced into her car at a Target store where she had stopped for an errand over the weekend, police said.

Kelsey Smith, who graduated from high school less than two weeks ago, left the store Saturday evening and put packages into her car when someone ran toward her, police said.

Smith’s car was found two hours later in the parking lot of a mall across the street.

Police were working to enhance the quality of that video, which has not been released because it is so poor, Detective Matthew Bregel said.

“We are moving on the assumption — because the prudent thing to do is to treat this as an abduction — that there was some kind of force involved,” Overland Park Police Chief John Douglas said.

Overland Park police did release another video of Smith walking into and out of Target and of a man they called a “person of interest,” Detective Bob Miller said.

Police were pursuing more than 200 leads after releasing that video, Douglas said.

Police are not calling him the man in the video a suspect, but said he might have information that could be helpful to them.

More than 50 detectives and officers from the area and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in the case, Douglas said.

Smith had been expected to attend a pool party with her boyfriend and then go to dinner to celebrate their six-month anniversary Saturday night.

About two hours after Smith disappeared, her grandparents found her gray 1987 Buick in the mall parking lot with her purse and packages still inside.

The teen’s family is holding up “as well as can be expected,” Miller said.

“I talked to the dad early this morning,” he said. “They’re starting to crumble a little bit because we’re past the 48-hour window. He knows the urgency and the gravity of the situation now.”

Smith’s father, Greg Smith, has been in law enforcement for 16 years. He described his daughter as outgoing, with plans to be a veterinarian.

“From a cop standpoint, I understand everything that’s going on,” he said. “I know what some of the key things are, what the key time frames are. I try not to think about that.”

Investigators said they don’t know if Smith was picked at random or abducted by someone she knew. But Kelsey Smith’s 23-year-old sister, Stevie Hockersmith, said she was sure her sister did not know the man police were seeking for questioning.

“He doesn’t know what he’s in for,” Hockersmith said. “Honestly, she’ll raise all hell.”

Chinese police were pleading with the public for any information about five newborn babies discovered in the back of a stolen car.

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The three boys and two girls, all about 10 days old, were found when police stopped the car at a toll booth in north China’s Hebei province on Sunday, said Zhang Lianying, the director of Nangong city’s Highway Patrol.

Police have confirmed the car was stolen two weeks ago in Shanghai, 700 miles south of Nangong, Zhang said. But they have so far been unable to identify any of the babies, he said.

These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.

Teenager Kelsey Smith went to Target in Overland Park, Kan., to buy a gift for her boyfriend last Saturday, but she has not had an opportunity to give it to him.

Police believe she may have been abducted after leaving the store. A grainy surveillance tape, captured by a video camera outside the store, shows someone running up behind Smith and forcing her into her car.

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“It’s easy to conclude there was some sort of activity at the back of the car, then the car leaves,” Overland Park Police Department Chief John Douglass said.

Smith’s car was found in a mall parking lot across the street two hours later, her packages and purse still inside.

Police are searching for a man seen on the surveillance tape exiting the store about the same time as Smith.

Investigators also are looking for what may be his truck, a dark Chevy pickup. The vehicle was seen pulling into the parking lot moments after Kelsey arrived and leaving later that night just minutes after the missing teen’s car was found.

Parents, Volunteers Ramp Up Search
The 18-year-old Smith, who graduated from high school two weeks ago, called her parents just moments before she left the store.

Greg and Missey Smith, Kelsey’s parents, say they won’t stop looking for her. Hundreds of volunteers are scouring the Overland Park area and going door-to-door searching for her.

The family has also started a Web site www.FindKelsey.com to enlist help in the search. The reward for information in this case has reached $30,000.

Greg Smith, who has worked in law enforcement for 16 years, said he began to worry that something had happened to Kelsey when she was late coming home.

“When Kelsey was late Sunday night, that was a red flag for me,” he said today on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Though she was classified as missing at first, I felt deep down it was an abduction.”

Kelsey was planning to attend Kansas State University in the fall. Her parents said she was an outgoing and responsible teen.

“Kelsey was in choir and theater,” Missey Smith said. “Most of all, she loved the marching band, loved the camaraderie. … She was just the life of the party.”

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