When your parents told you as a child not to talk to strangers or wander too far, you probably never gave it much more thought. Your brain went autopilot mode and just thought “Okay I’ll just do what they say”.

Now that you’re all grown up and understand things more, I’m sure you at least have a much better idea of why parents really don’t want their kids getting lost or talking to strangers.

And in case you need a wake-up call as to what sort of dangers you’d face as a small child, then look no further than here.

Here, in Louisville, Kentucky is where every parent’s worst nightmare took place.

Witnessing everything was Prentiss Weatherford, a grown man who’s way too big to worry about anything a small kid would.

And it was fortunate that this was the case, because such a child would end up needing his help pretty soon.

Weatherford was outside his home one day when he spotted a 6-year old girl on her bike with no one watching her.

Already, not a good predicament for a small child.

Though it got a whole lot worse in just a few seconds. Before Weatherford knew it, a strange red Dodge Challenger pulled up.

Out stepped a man who grabbed the little girl, and tossed her into his car before driving off.

Prentiss was taken aback by what he saw. The man probably didn’t notice Prentiss in the area – and if he did, probably thought he could snatch the girl before anyone noticed. That was his mistake.

Obviously not wanting to stand around and do nothing, Prentiss hopped into his own car and gave chase. If he couldn’t catch that horrible excuse for a human being, he’d at least be able to get the license plate number.

That, and a general idea of where he might head next.

This is precisely why parents emphasize not talking to strangers or straying off by yourself. As the saying goes, better to be safe than sorry. Most kids won’t have a random stranger around to act as a witness and follow their kidnappers in a car.

Prentiss couldn’t catch the guy himself, but with the license plate number and car description he took down, the police could. He contacted them and spilled the details.

A red Dodge Challenger, with these 3 last digits on the license plate. It was heading away from Dixie Highway.

And with those details, the police had a lot to narrow the suspect down with. An entire division assisted with the pursuit, all thanks to Weatherford’s quick thinking.

10 minutes later, it was all over. They cornered the man in his red Dodge Challenger, and he came out of the car without any struggle or confrontation.

Of course, the little girl was crying and terrified when they brought her out of the car. She was probably too young to understand everything that was happening, but she definitely knew she was in danger the whole time. Goes to show that there’s some truly horrible people in the world.

But there’s also some truly decent and good-spirited people to do something about it.

Prentiss being one of them. His chasing and gathering of info saved this little girl’s life, and the police in Louisville made sure to emphasize that.

Watch the video below!

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Source: Inside Edition, Lexington 18