Sometimes you just have to go on a Target run. A family in Ohio is likely feeling all sorts of emotions right now after they had quite the scare involving their 8-year-old daughter over the weekend. This past Sunday, the family originally reported their 8-year-old daughter missing, along with the family vehicle in the early hours of the morning. Police immediately jumped onto the investigation in order to track down the missing girl. One of the first things they did was ask for security camera footage from the neighborhood. Sure enough, one neighbor's Ring camera footage showed the girl getting into the car around seven in the morning and driving away by herself. So then it was just a matter of locating the family's Nissan SUV that the little girl took and hoping she was okay. Not too long after the missing child report came in, the local police began getting calls from concerned drivers about a car on the road that appeared to be operated by a very young driver "heading east." Officers put two and two together and began tracking down where the little girl was heading in the family vehicle. Eventually, the Bainbridge Police Department found the missing car in a Target parking lot, which was around 25 minutes away (10 miles) from where the little girl started her journey. Officers went into the store hoping that the young girl would be in there and located the missing child - although she wasn't
missing as much as she was
busy shopping at Target. Bainbridge PD posted this message to their Facebook page once they located the girl and got her back home safely:
"Well I’ve finally found a woman who’s in more of a hurry to shop at Target than my wife. More of hurry by 8 years. That’s right an 8 year old took mommy’s car this morning and drove to Target in Bainbridge to shop. Thankfully she made it and was immediately located by Bainbridge Police. She’s now home safe. Not sure what she bought, or if she was even able to use her Target app to save 5%. We did let her finish her Frappuccino. We’re not mean." According to Target employees, they saw the 8-year-old walk into the store by herself with around $400 in cash. She was apparently on a mission to go shopping, and wasn't going to let anything or anyone stop her - not even the fact that she was half the legal driving age. When police asked the little girl some questions about her Target joyride, she admitted to striking a mailbox on the way there. Thankfully, that appears to be the only damage done, as the little girl was okay once she was located. The family eventually came to the Target to recover their car and their daughter, but wished to not speak to media or be on video (I wonder why). You can hear more about the 8-year-old's solo Target trip (the store refunded the money she spent) in the local news video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn2zEeM6caU
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