This is a truly sad case. I’ve lived in various towns throughout NC my whole life and while this case doesn’t surprise me, the way in which Hania was taken does. Currently, I’m in Western NC and received the Amber Alert immediately. Over the past few days, I have definitely noticed a heavy police presence on the roads.
I work in the healthcare field. For a while, lived in Spartanburg SC, which is also a small town with high crime rates and a lot of heavy human trafficking. It’s sad to see the numbers of young females that show up to the ER who are seemingly being “trafficked”, especially when you really can’t do much for them except try to get them alone (I need to run a test, come with me we will be right back) and give them options if they want help. The difference in these cases? Most of the girls you see aren’t 13 year olds kidnapped against their will. They are runaways, or kids tricked into the life of prostitution with the promise of a good home and love. I don’t sense that here, which is more frightening.
Also, it doesn’t seem like the manner in which Hania was taken could be happenchance. The guy was dressed to be hidden, Hania was known to crank the car in the mornings, and he got away without a hitch and the car has yet to be found. This guy knew what he was doing. He was looking for a victim and she just happened to be the perfect prey. Whether she was a victim for him personally or one to sell is the question.
When you look at the maps of the area where Hania was abducted, there are plenty of getaway options. IMO the kidnapper either ditched the car somewhere close by (meaning he has ties to the area and a house with a garage or somewhere to stash the car very close to the mobile home park) or hit the interstate as fast as he could to take I-95 south to Atlanta, the biggest human trafficking hub on the east coast. Myrtle Beach is a huge area for it (statistically, when asked where they were going after being released from prison, a majority of NC sex offenders say they are headed to Myrtle Beach). The fact the car hasn’t been seen by anyone says a lot. To me that means the car was ditched a long time ago somewhere that’s covered.
I think at this point, staying and looking close to home is the best option. That car HAS to be hidden close by or it would have been seen by now.
If it was me that had just stolen a car and kidnapped a girl, I would have went straight for the deserted miles of farmland towards the direction the SUV was last seen heading if I wanted the girl myself. If I wanted to sell her, I would go Myrtle Beach or Atlanta. Either way, I would ditch the car.
Proud of how LE has handled this one so far, minus how long it took to get the story from the family to the police. This case could and should be a game changer for the 911 call system as we maybe could have saved this girl if the concerns were able to be expressed and understood immediately.
