An Amber Alert was issued by Georgia authorities on March 28 for a 1-year-old believed to be in “extreme danger.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Arcade Police Department said that Baylee Sue Peeples, 1, was taken by Robert Joseph Peeples, 39, and issued a Levi’s Call, known as Georgia’s Amber Alert.
“The program is designed to get the word out to the public via radio and television within minutes of a confirmed abduction. Its goal is simple: Locate a child and an abductor quickly before any harm comes to the child,” according to the bureau.
Robert Peeples was described as a white male standing 5 feet 10 inches and weighing 187 pounds. Baylee was described as white with blue eyes and blonde hair, standing 3 feet tall and weighing 25 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt with pink hearts with the words “Always Amazing” emblazoned on it.
They were last seen at Rock Forge Road in Jefferson and are believed to be traveling in a white 1993 GMC Vandura with a license tag of RIK1620.
UPDATE: I just spoke with Baylee Peeples mom. She told me her daughter’s father was dropping them off at home & when she tried to get Baylee out of the car seat.. he told her no you will never see her again & drove off. The first pic is what Baylee had on when she taken. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/lwW9cXDoRX
— Kristen Holloway (@KHollowayWSB) March 28, 2019
GBI is assisting. Please RT. https://t.co/cXeJ8XLtXG
— GA Bureau of Invest (@GBI_GA) March 28, 2019
Baylee’s mother told WSB-TV that Peeples, the father of Baylee, told her that she’d never see her daughter again before he drove off.
Cell phone records indicated that the pair were on I-85 at Spaghetti Junction around 4:30 p.m.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baylee was reported abducted about 1:50 a.m.
Anyone with information was asked to contact 911 or the Arcade Police Department at 706-367-1821.
Parental Kidnapping
According to the Polly Klaas Foundation, approximately 200,000 children are kidnapped each year by a family member.
Child custody experts say that people kidnap their own children to force a reconciliation or continued interaction with the other, left-behind parent; to spite or punish the other parent; from fear of losing custody or visitation rights.
In rare cases, the kidnapping may occur to protect a child from a parent who is believed to be abusing the child.
Common warnings signs include the other parent threatening abduction, suspected abuse, or paranoid delusion.
Kidnapping
The number of reported missing children significantly decreased in recent years, according to a report by the Department of Justice (pdf) in 2017. Reported missing children dropped from 6.5 per 1,000 children in 1999 to 3.1 per 1,000 in 2013.
Missing children typically fall into five categories: kidnapped by a family member, abducted by a nonfamily perpetrator, runaways, those who got lost, stranded, or injured, or those who went missing due to benign reasons, such as misunderstandings, according to the report.
Department of Justice researchers said in a separate report (pdf) published in 2016 that there were an estimated 105 children nationwide that were victims of stereotypical kidnappings, a number that was virtually the same as 1997.
“Most kidnappings involved the use of force or threats, and about three in five victims were sexually assaulted, abused, or exploited, the researchers said.
Stereotypical kidnappings are defined as abductions in which a slight acquaintance or stranger moves a child at least 20 feet or holds the child at least 1 hour.
Most victims were girls aged 12 to 17 and most perpetrators were men aged 18 to 35.
