[ drathis holiday. Ahhhhh ahhhhh a distant friend returns. Elliott. You came back and while lots of things have changed. Wooooah woah its called the internet. Some things havent. Get ready for a reunion 3 million light years in the making. Woohoo yeah the good evening. Thanks for joining us. Imagine having your daughter snatched from your arms in broad daylight. Stranger abductions are not typical. Only a tiny fraction of cases out of hundreds of thousands of missing children every year. But this nightmare scenario came true for one texas mother last may. Pierre thomas gives us a rare look at how a community of heroes came together to bring that little girl home. Reporter racing through the night streets. The destination an unremarkable hotel in the suburbs of ft. Worth, texas. This guys looking out the windows. Im not trying to let him see that were rolling around. Can you get me in real quick . Do you have the room information for room 333 . I need it fast. Reporter the target, a small room on the third floor. Matches the description. Reporter the mission, to prevent a truly scenario. Inside a police raid with a little girls life on the line. Neverbeforeseen body cam footage of the final confrontation. Open the door open the door reporter when every second matters. Open the [ bleep ] door let me see your hands. Get on the ground got her, we got her, we got her. We got her. Her. Her. Her. Her. Reporter dallasft. Worth, home to 7. 5 million people, many of them living in quiet, suburban neighborhoods like this one. Mile after mile of driveways and lush back yards. A place where families can safe lay stroll down the sidewalk. But that sense of state of was shattered on a warm saturday evening back in may. What is the location that youre calling about . Hello . A car, a green car just drove off. He kidnapped my daughter, grabbed me off the street, kidnapped my daughter. Reporter do you recall where you were when you got the call . I was at home. And i just knew that this case was different. Reporter sergeant amelia heissy was the detective on call that day, when she got the first report, an 8yearold girl snatched right out of her mothers arms. Oh, my god, my daughter was kidnapped. Im going to [ bleep ] die we need to find her now. He was a scare eye man. He was harassing us. He pushed my and grabbed her. Please, please reporter officers race to the scene, finding the mother but also an accidental piece of evidence, one that could be critical to tracking down the kidnapper. Help me help me please my daughter just got kidnapped. Reporter the crime was captured on a mans doorbell camera, showing the actual abduction in progress. You can see a woman fall onto the street as the car drives away. Then she pops up, yelling for help. Reporter you have a rare combination of youre a mom and a detective. I was a detective before i was a mother and then after. After i became a mother, that protective sense just grew, and i could really relate more to the cases and how the parents were feeling. We begin tonight with breaking news out of ft. Worth where police say a little girl is missing. Reporter this is security footage from a neighboring home there. This has been an active scene now for hours. Reporter did you feel the sense of urgency right off the bat . I knew we had to go. Time was against us, and we just could not move fast enough. Reporter the case so heinous, federal authorities were immediately brought in. Erin nealy cox. One of the most disturbing things about this incident was the randomness and brazenness of it. Reporter Chris Thompson is with a special task force investigating crimes against children. Less than 5 of the abductions tracked by the fbi nationally are true stranger abductions. Reporter he saw something he wanted, executed on it and unfortunately took the girl in plain sight. It seemed to escalate the level of concern for the minor victim that she may indeed be in grave danger and imminent danger. Reporter the girls mom could give a small description of the subject. What kind of vehicle were they . Do you know what kind of vehicle it is. Reporter thankfully, the doorbell cam provided crucial information. It was the only piece of video. It was absolutely critical. It wasnt supposed to go off, just from a passing car or a person being observed in the street. Reporter it only activated, because the homeowner ran outside. Its only a few, precious frames of footage, but it was enough for Law Enforcement to call in car experts who narrowed down a make and model. Give police a call. Reporter with that, police and the community had something specific to look for. The patrol response was amazing, everybody showing up. Were still not enough. We have called in additional resources. Obviously, the Police Department takes this very seriously. Reporter did every minute, even every second feel like an eternity . The best way i can describe it, i felt like time was my enemy. It felt like time was flying by and i was moving so slow. I could not move fast enough. In an abduction, every minute that pass, the situation generally gets worse and worse for the victim. Every minute that passes, your likelihood of having a positive outcome goes down. Reporter were tips coming in. Absolutely, yes. Reporter dozens . Hundreds . I dont know the number, but the communications were overwhelmed. Whats address youre calling about . Reporter crystal morrell had no idea what she was walking into when she arrived for her shift at the ft. Worth dispatch center that night. It was already very, very busy when i came onto my shift. I was a nervous wreck with it. Because i could just only imagine me walking down the street and this happening to me and my child. Reporter by the time shed got there, the manhunt was more than four hours old. I had heightened senses. Every call was like im trying to get every piece of detail and see should we, how should we process this . Is this just a broadcast . I let our officers know . Or do i send a call up and we need to check this out . Every call was like that, all the details. Reporter as dispatchers fielded call after call, tip after tip, crystal had no idea by the next morning she would walk out of the call center a hero. Dont just watch the video. Help us locate this little girl. Reporter Something Else crystal didnt know at that moment, just after midnight, someone had called 911 and reported they may have seen the suspect. Police officers from forest hill responded to woodspring suites, an Extended Stay Hotel about seven miles from the street where the girl was abducted. Officers talked to the man in room 333, went inside and searched for 90 seconds. But they didnt see a child, and left. We now know the kidnapped little girl was there, hidden in plain sight. We reached out to forest hill, and the city declined to comment. By then, it was well into the night. And most of the city was asleep. But luckily, not everyone. The people that came forward to assist in this late, late, late on a saturday night, of their own accord were absolutely critical in the recovery of this child. Reporter around 2 00 a. M. , a new 911 call. Hi, my names jeff king. For the missing girl . Okay. Reporter on one end, crystal morrell. On the other, a couple of men out searching. We just found a ford 500 in a parking lot of a hotel. Wheres the hotel . And it looks like theres blood in the front seat. What hotel . I could tell he wasnt in our city. He was more so, i dont know, in shock. I transferred him over to forest hill, and i dont know, something told me to just keep listening on the call. To see what was going on. Reporter normally, her job would be done at that point, but her decision to stay on the call turns the tide. Forest hill 911. So i stay on the call. And the operator was a female on the line. And she, its like she already knew where he was at. She knew what hotel it was. What seat is the one you think . Passenger seat. Front passenger seat has blood in it, it looks like. I said i dont know, this sounds like something we should check out. It wouldnt hurt for us to go out there. Reporter crystal gets the alert out to the ft. Worth police and in minutes shes tracking officer after officer as they arrive at the scene. Now all she can do is wait and see if her instinct was right. She realized the seriousness of it and officers who heard it, they also realized the seriousness of it. Reporter was that the moment that led to the beginning of the end . Yes. Reporter up next, inside the rescue operation. Open the [ bleep ] door reporter and what Authorities Say is the biggest hero of them all. Diarrhea . Pepto diarrhea to the rescue. Its 3x concentrated liquid formula coats and kills bacteria to relieve diarrhea. 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Usaa nightline, the raid, continues. Here again, Pierre Thomas. Reporter its nearly 2 00 in the morning in ft. Worth, texas. Eight hours into the manhunt to find a kidnapper and to rescue the little girl he abducted. At this moment, a 911 call has police racing toward hope. This officers body camera is rolling as the squad car approaches the hotel in an outer suburb. If this guys looking out the window, im not trying to see that were rolling around. Reporter once parked, time is of the essence. The officers must figure out if they have the right place and the right suspect. They immediately check out the vehicle reported in the 911 call and what looks like blood in the front passenger seat. Armed with the room number from the original 911 call, the officer with the body camera heads inside, only to find the front desk shuttered for the night. Can you get me in real quick . Huh . Can you get me in real quick . Do you have the room information for room 333 . I need it like fast. Okay. Reporter provided in that paperwork, a copy of the mans license. Copy 24. Matches the description. Reporter at this point, just minutes after arriving on scene. A group of police and Task Force Agents have enough information to make an attempt to get inside room 333. They of course were exposing themselves to danger. We knew very little about the subject. We didnt know if he was sitting behind there with a rifle. But i seriously doubt if any of them even gave that a passing thought. Their mission at that point was to get in that room and get that girl. Open the door were getting dressed open the [ bleep ] door break it. Open it [ bleep ]. Hands, let me see your hands step out, step out reporter the suspect is pulled out of the room. [ bleep ]. Reporter the team then rushes in. Searching for the girl who was nowhere to be seen. Got her, we got her, we got hoer. We got her. Reporter the officers relief and excitement clearly tells everyone the girl is here and alive. Woo in custody. We have her. [ bleep ]. Reporter the little girl had been forced to hide in a storage bucket, covered in dirty laundry. It was the same trick that worked the First Time Police searched room 333. We got her, we got her reporter but it did not work this time. The subject had actually threatened the victim. That he was going to harm her and her family if she made any sort of outdcry or tried to notify police. Can we get her out . Come on, sweetheart. Are you okay . Yeah. Youre going to be okay. Got him reporter their excitement clearly tempered by anger and anxiety that someone would kidnap and attack a child. Lets get her in here. Do me a favor. Reporter that man right there, the Good Samaritan to made the 911 call, a pastor who actually knows the family. On the phone with the girls dad, delivering the good news. Forest Police Officer m 727. Whats the address. Reporter back at the call and dispatch center, crystal morrell finally found out what happened. Oh, man, it was like a ton of bricks had been knocked off of me. I did cry after they found the girl. I think it was because my adrenaline was so high and a sense of oh, we found her. Reporter she got emotional again when she got home, realizing her determination helped return a child to her mothers loving arms. I went straight in, and i just hugged my babies, and i was crying. I get emotional now just thinking about it. And i was crying. It was just a lot. You could just think, oh, that could have been me. And it was good to know my babies were at home. But that little girl, she didnt get to, she wasnt at home with her mom. She wasnt safe. But thanks to you, she was, now. I just say, it was, it was god. God, god, god led all of that. I went home, and i sat down at the breakfast table, and everything that i wouldnt allow myself to feel that night, it hit me, and i fit it. Reporter were you able to hug your kids . Yes. Yes, very much so. Reporter in the aftermath of the arrest, u. S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox picked up the case. Im a mother of three children, all girls, one of which is an 8yearold, just like the victim in this case. Reporter youre kidding. No. So for me it was important to bring the suspect to justice. Reporter did you find yourselves in brief moments thinking about what the mom was going through . Oh, absolutely. We met with the family who was just so courageous and inspirational to me personally about how they were dealing with this. Reporter the 51yearold suspect pleaded not guilty, but in court, nealy cox played part of his interrogation tape where he admitted to kidnapping the girl. It took the jury just ten minutes to convict him. He was later sentenced to life in prison. Nobodys ever going to be victimized by this man again. If youre sitting at home and the amber alert goes off on your phone it doesnt mean you cant do something. Reporter nealy cox says it has had a profound impact on not just her but everyone involved, especially the officers there at the rescue. Some are still dealing with the memories of that day. They really dealt with it like they would their own child in finding their child. Child. Ch. Reporter but for amile yeel and all those officers, its not found in a courtroom. Its making sure the youngest hero, a little girl kidnapped and terrorized can do more than just survive. She can thrive. Shes definitely the hero of this story. Shes doing great. I mean, shes incredibly resilient. Shes got a strong family, who are just as brave as she is, and i think shes going to do extraordinary things one day. I know shes going to be with me the rest of my life. I look forward to seeing her grow and see her experience all the wonderful things that life can give to her from here on out. Reporter for nightline, im Pierre Thomas in ft. Worth, texas. For your worst sore throat pain, try Vicks Vapocool drops. Its not candy, its powerful relief. Ahhh vaporize sore throat pain with Vicks Vapocool drops and try new vapocool spray. This is charlie not coughing because he took delsym 12hour. And this is charlie still not coughing while trying his hardest not to wake zeus. Delsym 12hour. Nothing lasts longer for powerful cough relief. Kerrygold has a taste so rich it can take you to irelands lush, green pastures. Where grassfed cows produce rich, creamy milk for a truly delicious taste. Kerrygold. The taste that takes you there. [ dramatic music ]ing ] ahhhh ahhhh elliott. You came back wholding you back . Excessive underarm sweating qbrexza is the first and only oncedaily prescription cloth towelette approved to treat excessive underarm sweating. Also known as axillary hyperhidrosis. Open one today and see what unfolds. man vo do not use qbrexza if you have certain medical conditions. Qbrexza may cause new or worsening urinary retention, problems with control of your body temperature and blurred vision. The most common side effect reported was dry mouth. Call your Healthcare Provider if you experience side effects. woman vo imagine how life can unfold. Ask a dermatologist how you may reduce excessive underarm sweating with qbrexza. And Pierre Thomas tells us a family spokesperson confirms the young girl is doing well, but she is one of the lucky ones. Last year roughly 400,000 children were reported missing in the u. S. If you have any information, the National Center for missing and exploited children is always open. 18008435678. And thats nightline tonight, you can watch our full episodes on hulu. Thanks for staying up with us. Have a great night and a great weekend, america. [ electrical buzzing ] [ electrical buzzing ] [ dramatic music ] ahhhh ahhhhh elliott. You came back a lots changed since you were here. Its called the internet. Holiday movies. [ remote bleeps ] im dreaming