A 16-year-old was
rescued by passersby after she used a hand signal she learned from TikTok,
alerting them that she was in danger. The teenager was reported to be missing
from North Carolina, USA, on Tuesday, November 2. Two days later she was found
inside a car in Kentucky.

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According to the
Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, the girl was found inside a silver-coloured
Toyota car by a passerby who saw her making hand gestures that are well known
on social media platform TikTok. The hand gestures represent “violence at
home–I need help–domestic violence “.

The
police in a statement said,” The complainant advised 911 that the female
appeared to be in distress. In addition, the complaint noted that the vehicle
was being driven by a male subject.”

The driver dialed
911 and continued to follow the Toyota and updated the police about its
location constantly.

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Laurel County
deputies and detectives managed to stop the vehicle as it exited a highway.
Later, the police found that the teenager had been reported missing by her
parents earlier in the week.

Following the
police stop, 61-year-old James Herbert Brick, the driver of the car in which
the girl was travelling, was arrested.

The unnamed
teenager told the police that she had travelled through North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky and to Ohio with James Brick. The man had relatives in Ohio
who later realized that “the female in his custody was underage and was also
reported missing.”

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The police said,”
When the male subject’s relatives realized that the female in his custody was
underage and reported missing, the accused left Ohio, traveling southbound and
the female juvenile then began attempting to get motorists attention to call
911.”

The 16-year-old
used a hand signal that is popular on social media platforms nowadays. 
The signal signifies domestic abuse. The gesture is believed to have been
introduced by the Canadian Women’s Foundation last year, according to The
Guardian. It is used by women to signal that they are in danger when they
cannot ask for help outright.

During investigation
the police also found some photos on Brick’s phone that allegedly
displayed a juvenile female in a sexual manner. He has been charged with
unlawful imprisonment and possession of material showcasing a sex performance
by a minor who was over the age of 12 but was under the age of 18.