Stranger picks up girl crying on roadside, takes her for a ‘fun day’ before returning her unharmed; now woman face mental evaluation

Published 8:35 am Friday, September 20, 2019

West Memphis police report an 11-year-old girl was picked up Wednesday morning by a complete stranger who apparently did not harm the girl but instead took her on a shopping spree to cheer her up.

The incident started, police report, when the woman spotted the girl crying on the side of the road.

Police say the woman did not mean to cause the girl harm but simply wanted to cheer her up. The woman was reportedly a former nanny.

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Police say the woman drove with the child to a store where they bought coloring books and candy and even went to a salon to get the girl’s nails done.

She brought her back home unharmed later that night.

When the girl was noticed missing from school her disappearance set off panic for her family.

Police say the woman will not be charged criminally, but was involuntarily committed to a mental facility for evaluation.