BOSTON — It seems so often we hear about the negative impact that social media has on kids. This time, authorities in Kentucky credit social media for a positive outcome involving a 16-year-old kidnapping victim.
That girl used a secret hand gesture she learned from TikTok to get the attention of another driver on the highway on Interstate 75, approximately 40 miles from the Tennessee border. According to police, another driver recognized the hand gesture and called 911 right away.
The signal consists of someone holding their hand up with their palm facing out, tucking their thumb into their hand and then closing their fingers down over their thumb.
“This idea was developed during COVID and for good reason. Women were stuck in their homes with their abusers and really had very limited opportunities to ask for help,” said Wendy Murphy, adjunct professor of sexual violence at New England Law.
Murphy, a women’s rights advocate, said this signal may not be effective in the majority of cases but believes it could help others in trouble.
“We need to use any tool we can get our hands on to both reduce incidence rates and increase the chance that someone who needs help gets help,” Murphy explained.
The Laurel County Kentucky Sheriff’s Office believes the kidnapped girl was lucky because of the fact that most people don’t yet recognize the hand gesture’s meaning.
The secret sign led to her rescue and the arrest of 61-year-old James Herbert Brick. Authorities said the girl’s parents reported her missing more than 48 hours earlier from Asheville, N.C. – nearly 150 miles away from where she was found.
“If this signal becomes so popular that all the bad guys know it too, we’ll come up with another one and another one,” Murphy added. “A victim needs to be able to reach out for help without alerting the abuser that she’s doing that.”
Investigators said they discovered images on Brick’s phone that showed an underage girl “in a sexual manner.” Brick was charged with unlawful imprisonment and possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor. He’s being held at the Laurel County Correctional Center on $10,000 bond.
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