New Details Surrounding Kidnapping Of Ardmore Girl

It was the phone call no parent should have to make.

Monday, November 10th 2014, 9:41 pm

By: News 9


It was the phone call no parent should have to make:

Dispatch: 911?

Mother: Yes, my baby is missing.

Desperate to find her 7-year-old daughter who had just been abducted from the neighborhood, a mother called 911 Saturday evening, triggering a 13-hour statewide amber alert.

That child is now back home and safe, thanks in large part, to another phone call -- one that a lot of people wouldn't make.

Police said it's common for people to see something that appears suspicious, but to then rationalize it and let it go.

In the case of this weekend's abduction, a neighbor of the family could easily have done the same thing. Police, and the young girl's parents, are certainly glad that he didn't.

11/9/2014 Related Story: Loved Ones Speak Out After Abducted Ardmore Girl Found Alive

Dispatch: Emergency, 911?

Caller: I think I'm reporting an abduction.

Caller: I heard a loud scream -- a young girl was screaming, and I saw a tall, skinny guy pick up this girl, put her in his car and leave.

The witness called police, upset that he couldn't do more to help.

Caller: This guy, he didn't like pull away, like if it was okay, you know, and he [had] found his daughter or something...I mean, he burned rubber, he left the area quick.

That was just after 5 p.m. on Saturday. Ardmore police would later learn that a 7-year-old girl had been abducted.

Mother: My baby is missing

Dispatcher: Did she go walking? Did she leave the house? Tell me what happened.

Mother: She was over here, down the street playing with the other kids, and she has always done that. She has always come straight to me. She has never left this road.

The mother's agony initiated a statewide search for the little girl and the suspect, only later identified as 34-year-old Fount Duston. Duston's neighbors in Marietta turned him in.

"I've had strange vibes with this guy," said Kimberly Cavitt, a neighbor. "So I just stayed away."

She was close by when Ardmore police arrived on his doorstep on Sunday.

"Typically, there is a time window of when these need to be solved or they don't end well," said Capt. Eric Hamblin. "And we were past that window."

When police confronted Duston, he pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at officers. Following a short struggle, officer tased and arrested him.

Neighbors said it was an emotional rescue, for those watching, as well as for the officer who carried the girl to safety.

"I heard him saying, 'Oh baby, oh baby,' like he was sobbing," said Cavitt. "And she was like, 'They kidnapped me, they kidnapped me!'"

The child was reunited with her family and is assisting officers with the investigation into Duston.

He is currently being held on complaints of kidnapping and rape.

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