Found Safe GA - Blaise Barnett, 1, sitting in car when stolen, later found abandoned, Clarkston, 10 Nov 2021

[LaborDayRN]

Not always. A kid in a car seat is strapped in and safe. A kid is more likely to get hurt in the house, alone while mom gets groceries, than he is safety confined to a car seat IMO. (Yes, the car should be locked).

I'd have to disagree that a child left alone at 1:00 am in a car by himself is safe. And sadly he wasn't safe in this case.
IMO there's no reason that one adult couldn't take the children inside while the other unloads and bring the groceries into the apartment.

 

[PigPong]

I asked myself.. If I'm going to potentially get busted stealing a vehicle, would I risk it for one that is almost 20 years old? But then I thought about the GPS / tracking in newer vehicles, And maybe that makes an older model an "easy" steal.

But unless you know how to hotwire it..banking on the keys being inside is a huge risk.

And maybe you happened to get so lucky and it's unlocked, with the keys inside. So you take off. Maybe you look in the rearview and see a baby in the back. Hard to imagine taking the baby versus ditching the car and running like hell, as others have said - that's more than someone stealing a vehicle is going to bother with.

So either this family was targeted/Blaise was specifically targeted and taken, or something else is at play here.

I think you'd have to have been close enough to have seen the keys tossed in the cupholder, to take the risk stealing the car.

If that's how it went down, and you suddenly look up and see the baby... the smartest thing is to immediately ditch the car and baby together. The cops would still be looking but not with nearly the intensity.

Since we have the car right down the road and no baby... it feels like a straight up kidnapping.

Which means the kidnapper hit the kidnapping lotto with the baby in the car with the keys.

I guess the question is... if the goal was a kidnapping... was Blaise targeted or was it opportunistic?

 

[PigPong]

I've seen this repeated claim that the family won't press charges...

I can understand them saying it... but that's out of their hands, isn't it?

 

[BeckyF]

It's not an area I would leave my keys in my car unattended, let alone my child.

People make mistakes. Parents make mistakes.

 

[trisha_mc]

Has anyone else checked the bus schedule?

IF that stop near their neighborhood is the Montreal Rd & Montreal Cir location, the last scheduled stop for a weeknight is 12:13am, with the earliest morning stop scheduled for 5:37am. Don’t get me wrong, MARTA busses have been late before, but either I am looking at the wrong location or there probably wasn’t a bus dropping anyone off at that time. OR we’ve been given the wrong timeline.

Can anyone confirm this would be the correct stop?

MARTA

 

[LaborDayRN]

I've seen this repeated claim that the family won't press charges...

I can understand them saying it... but that's out of their hands, isn't it?

I believe it is out of their hands. The person who took the vehicle and Blaise committed two (or possibly more) serious crimes and in my opinion they will be prosecuted.

 

[Lux et Veritas]

I know we live in a 24/7 society but seems more than a bit strange to be grocery shopping at 1AM with very young children. Indeed, there may be a very ordinary (if unusual) reason but it still strikes me as odd.
JMO

 

[Lux et Veritas]

2002 Ford Explorer - a 19 year old car. Seems that would be the very LAST car a thief would steal.

Apartment and car lights on. Two adults walking back and forth outside. Two kids who could cry or scream at any moment. Seems like a car thief's worst nightmare.

Something wrong with this story.

 

[alucardsdream]

2002 Ford Explorer - a 19 year old car. Seems that would be the very LAST car a thief would steal.

Apartment and car lights on. Two adults walking back and forth outside. Two kids who could cry or scream at any moment. Seems like a car thief's worst nightmare.

Something wrong with this story.

I wonder if either parent had problems with anyone...some random person who was just looking for a car to steal wouldn't have ditched the car but kept the baby. Maybe the family was specifically targeted for some reason.

 

[IceIce9]

Is there security camera video that shows the kids in the car?

 

[Trackergd]

Seems a low probability to me that a car thief just happened to be at the right spot at the right time, then ditches the car and keeps the child. Smells like a child abduction of opportunity or targeted. I am puzzled in that most pedophiles want an older child, so that sways me towards targeted.

 

[Wowno17]

I can't imagine that a carjacker would assume that someone left their keys in the cupholder of the car...and if they were simply looking for a car to steal, why risk stealing one that's right in front of an apartment building where I'm assuming there are streetlights? It does seem like a huge risk to take.

(Completely OT, but @gingerbread I love the dog in your profile picture!)

Maybe the thief was just searching the car for valuables and came across the keys (and child) that way?

 

[Rotten apple]

="TGIRecovered, post: 17266795, member: 9919"]Baby size car seats don't stay in the car. The carseat detaches from the base and you bring it inside with the baby still strapped safely in the seat. When it's time to leave again, it's much easier to strap baby in , carry baby in the seat to the car and set it on the base, which automatically locks it in.

There would be no reason to leave the baby alone in a car while unloading. MOO[/QUOTE]
Not all car seats are the kind with the detachable carrier. Here is a photo of an “all in one” that is meant to carry your child through all the stages of car seat needs. You actually have to take just the baby/child out, nothing detaches. Plus, Blaise looks to me to be too big for one of the detachable types.

 

[alucardsdream]

Maybe the thief was just searching the car for valuables and came across the keys (and child) that way?

Definitely possible, but I have trouble believing that an opportunistic thief would then ditch the car but take the baby.

 

[Wowno17]

If the car seat was taken, it could've been to transport it and child straight into another vehicle.

What is screaming reg flags to me is dad's description of the person he supposedly saw is VERY detailed.

Also why bags/groceries/whatever into the apartment before you take both children.

Get the bags afterwards. Not your child.

MOO

 

[LovesPeace2]

I can understand shopping late at night I used to shop as soon as the store opened or late at night because the stores not as busy , I’ve even been guilty of leaving a sleeping child in the car as I hauled in grocery’s it was just easier but nothing else makes sense , if I would of seen someone there’s no way I would of left my child alone and the car being found without child close by doesn’t make sense . On Monday out here in bc 2 cars were stolen with kids in it the first was a car from driveway with child in car seat the car was found with the child the 2 nd was mom and kid napping in car and someone steals car and ditches it as soon as mom wakes up. … this case is just starting to smell something else is missing that they aren’t saying jmoo

 

[Cubby]

I guess the question is... if the goal was a kidnapping... was Blaise targeted or was it opportunistic?

RSBM.

.....or was it staged?

If this wasn't staged I'll eat my phone.

The clues are in moms statement about his being cold and asking the kidnapper to be patient with his crying.

And the dads statement... let me find it...


Here is dad's statement:
"I just kept saying this is a dream. This just can’t be real,” Xavier Barnett told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from outside his Clarkston apartment as the search for his son continued into Wednesday night

Cops find stolen SUV, but Clarkston 1-year-old still missing

 

[sleepysleuth]

I wonder if the father is being a little dishonest and he actually left the car running? I could see twisting that portion of the story to remove a bit of the blame from himself. It actually turns my hinky meter way down if the car was left running.

Since there was an Amber Alert issued, I could see the thief ditching the car quickly when they received that alert. However, I don't think your basic car thief would keep the baby unless maybe they panicked and are now trying to figure out what to do with him?

 

[ClaireNC]

Living in a house in a rural area, I used to leave my babies sleeping in the car when I unloaded groceries. We rarely lock our cars in the driveway. My suburban/urban friends would never think of doing that. They lock the car doors and bring the keys with them between trips into the house when unloading groceries. However you do it becomes a habit, part of your routine.

Do we know if Blaise’s parents recently moved from a rural area? Or have they lived in that area for a while? Would leaving the car doors unlocked and the keys in the car be part of their normal routine? (Rhetorical questions)

When first reported the story was believable and I expected Blaise and the car to be found together within a few hours. The car being found but no sign of the baby, brings up all kinds of questions. The first one I have is: When was the last time anyone outside the family saw the baby? Was he even in the car?

 

[BlkMtnGirl]

So, there was a prayer vigil organized but no organized search of the area where the vehicle was found? Is that right? Poor baby.