Antioch PD Thanks Roxanna Ramirez For Role in Finding Abducted Girl

The Antioch Police Department put out additional information today on what led to the safe return of a kidnapped 7-year-old girl Friday.  The Police Department recognized Roxanna Ramirez as the person who played a key role in helping us solve this case while thanking the community and usage of social media for assisting.

The following information was provided by the Antioch Police Department Facebook Page

As all of you probably know, this past weekend a crime was committed in our City that shook us to the core – A young child was forcibly abducted by a stranger. We are blessed this case ended much differently than many others like it, as within hours of the abduction, the child was located and the perpetrator was taken into custody.

Several factors led to this joyous resolution. The first is providing immediate access to the public about what occurred. The AMBER Alert system which provides information through TV, radio, highway signage, and now internet and cell phone text messages, helped tremendously. Next, social media played a huge role, as concerned citizens posted and shared this critical information instantaneously to an exponential amount of people.

But all this information sharing would have been pointless if it wasn’t for the members of the community who pay attention to what’s going on around them and contact law enforcement to provide information. People who step up and do their part to help keep our community safe.

The Antioch Police Department would like to recognize Roxanna Ramirez as the person who played a key role in helping us solve this case. Roxanna, who was working as a loss prevention agent at a local department store, spotted a subject acting suspiciously. She watched the subject via a security camera system, and followed him as he went to the parking lot and got into his vehicle. Although no crimes had been committed, she followed her gut instinct, zoomed in the the subject’s license plate number, and wrote it down just in case something happened.

Several hours later on that same day, something did happen. This suspicious subject, David Douglas, kidnapped a young girl in our city. When Roxanna arrived home that night after her shift, she learned of the abduction from a friend. Upon reading the AMBER Alert information on a social media website, she immediately recognized the subject and vehicle description matched that of the subject she saw hours earlier at her work. Without hesitation, Roxanna contacted APD and provided this information, including the license plate number of the vehicle.

With Douglas’ identity now known, investigators quickly learned he was known to frequent the Antioch Marina. A detective was immediately dispatched to that area to search for Douglas. The detective found the vehicle, took the subject into custody, and the young child was safely recovered.

We at the Antioch Police Department value the relationship we have with the community. We have said, and will continue to believe, it is only through a collaborative partnership with the citizens that we can truly impact crime and make Antioch a safer community. Roxanna Ramirez…we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for doing your part!