Losing a child through kidnapping is one of the worst things parents can experience.

But there are miracles in form of good-natured strangers. People who were minding their little businesses but are quick to help – especially they are in the right place at the right time.

An old woman didn’t expect that her hobby would save a life.

Barbara Gusse, an amateur bird watcher, was tending to the birds that pass by her yard in Brooklyn Center. Across the street, a white Grand Cherokee Jeep idled in the church parking lot.

Moments later, an AMBER alert flashed on her phone screen:

“AMBER Alert, Minneapolis, MN AMBER Alert: LIC/CRY-661 (MH) 22005 White Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV”

An AMBER Alert is a communication system established in 1996 to warn about and mitigate child abduction.

It stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was created and named after Amber Hagerman.

So when this advisory came up, citizens take it seriously.

Just two hours ago, a white Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 1-year-old boy in the back seat had been stolen.

And it looked eerily similar to the one parked by the Glory Lutheran Church across from where Gusse was staying.

Gusse, a grandmother of nine and a retired Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board employee, took her bird-watching binoculars out and peered towards the church. She was not prepared for what she was about to discover.

The Jeep across the streets bore the AMBER alert plate number: CRY-661.

She narrated the scene to ABC 5:

“I’m a bird watcher, so I got my binoculars and I looked over and it was the same license plate that was on the phone so I called the police department right away.”

It didn’t take long before help arrived. As soon as she saw the squad car pull into the parking lot, Gusse bundled up and rushed outside.

She just had to know if the baby made it.

She said to ABC 5:

“And I said, ‘Is the baby OK?’ And he said, ‘Yes, ma’am, thank you,’ and I went back inside the house,”

It was a great ending to a terrifying episode.

The boy, called Da’Merion was finally safe after two hours of being lost in winter temperatures.

The hours-long ordeal began when Da’Merion’s mom strapped her son on the back seat then ran back inside her home to grab another item. She came out but the car was gone. A ground and sky search was initiated, and the police appealed to residents to check their properties.

John Elder from the Minneapolis Police expressed his relief with CBS:

“About the only things I found out about the child is that he was all smiled when officers picked him up. He appears to be a pretty good-natured little guy.”

The case remains unsolved as no arrests have been made.

The suspect, if they find them, will face charges of auto theft and kidnapping.

This ordeal may have ended badly, but this shows how a dedicated member of a community can tip the odds of life against death.

Gusse expressed her relief as well saying that she’s just thankful that she was ‘nosy’ and that she’s not a hero, but just a concerned grandmother.

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Source: WCCO – CBS Minnesota via YouTube, AMBER Alert, KSTP, Star Tribune