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Baby found safe inside stolen truck in Indianapolis

Police confirmed infant Kinsley Rose Potts was found safe inside a stolen truck in Indianapolis Thursday morning.

PLAINFIELD, Ind. — Police confirmed infant Kinsley Rose Potts was found safe inside a stolen truck on the west side of Indianapolis Thursday morning.

Plainfield police said a white 2014 Chevrolet Silverado was stolen from a BP gas station on Hadley Road and SR 267, just north of Interstate 70, shortly before 6:30 a.m. The truck had the 5-month-old girl inside when it was stolen, according to an AMBER Alert issued just before 9 a.m.

Plainfield Police Deputy Chief Joe Aldridge shared the good news with 13News after learning Kinsley had been found.

"The baby and the truck have been located in Indianapolis," said Aldridge, "I don't have any information on that location right now, but I do know the baby has been located and the baby is fine."

***KIDNAP/STOLEN TRUCK*** White 2014 Chevrolet Silverado IN In God We Trust plate DPC803stolen from BP by SR267/I70 with 6 mo old child inside. Dial 911 if observed

Posted by Plainfield Police Department on Thursday, September 17, 2020

Police told 13News the truck was stolen after Kinsley's father tried to pay for gas at the pump, but had to go inside to complete the transaction. He left the truck unlocked with the engine running. 

That's when a suspect, described as a white man with a gray beard and wearing a white shirt, allegedly drove off with truck, heading south on SR 267 toward I-70.

Police issued the AMBER Alert as quickly as possible after learning about the case. But before the alert even hit the airwaves, Danyell Massing saw it on Facebook when friends started sharing pictures of Kinsley and details about the truck.

As Massing helped her 5-year-old daughter log on to her virtual kindergarten class, she googled what a Silverado truck looked like, just in case she saw one.

"When I looked out my window, I was like, 'That looks like that truck on the news,'" she said.

Massing decided to snap a photo from inside the house, but needed to get a closer look.  

Credit: Danyell Massing
Photo by Danyell Massing of missing truck recovered on Beulah Ave. in Indianapolis Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020.

"I went outside and checked the plate and that's when I knew,"  Massing said. "My heart was pounding. I didn't know if I should open the door and grab the baby. So I just called the cops and said I found the truck."

The thief drove to Massing's street and left the truck with Kinsley inside, but fled on foot. Massing also took a photo showing when officers found Kinsley unharmed in the truck just outside her Beulah Avenue home.  

   

Credit: Steve Jefferson/WTHR
IMPD is searching the west side Indianapolis neighborhood where a stolen truck with a baby girl was found Thursday morning, Sept. 17, 2020.

The search for the suspect led police to a home on Raymond Street nearby. Plainfield police requested a search warrant and questioned several people. According to Aldridge, his investigators located stolen vehicles at the house and some of the vehicles parked in the front yard did not have license plates. 

Either way, Danyell is happy Kinsley is back home safe.  

"I have a little girl and I would want someone to do the same for me," she said.

Kinsey was reunited with her family.

Anyone with information on the incident should call the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department at 317-839-8700 or 911.

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