Everything changed Saturday night for the parents of a University of Maryland student when they received a hoax call that their daughter had been kidnapped.
Thirkel Freeman and his wife were already on their way to College Park, Maryland, because they couldn't get in touch with their daughter, Kiana. A stranger then called them and said Kiana had been kidnapped and they would have to pay a ransom to get her back.
"'You want to see her alive again, you guys got to produce some cash and follow our demands or else you'll never see her again. You'll see her again in a body bag,'" Freeman said.
The man on the phone demanded that Freeman wire him $1,300.
Freeman then ordered the man to put his daughter on the phone and when he heard her voice, he panicked.
"She says, 'Dad, dad please do whatever they say!'"
Kiana had not actually been kidnapped, but the suspect had his daughter on the other line and had threatened to kill her brother if she didn't cooperate.
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Meanwhile, Freeman's wife called 911 as they made their way to Walmart to wire the money.
"I was going to send it, you know, because I felt like, that he gave me his word that he was going to release her if I sent the money," Freeman said.
But when Freeman complied, the suspect demanded more. That's when Freeman, a pastor, said he turned to his faith.
"This is it. This is it. I won't comply anymore. I'm going to resort to spiritual help from God," he said.
He hung up the phone and, moments later, he was contacted by the FBI.
"It was just so a relief to know that she's alive, she's well. That's all that mattered," Freeman said.
Freeman said he now knows to avoid calls from numbers that are outside of the continental United States.
Law enforcement officials also said people should always call police if they receive a call asking to send money through a wire transfer.
