We all understand the allure of Target—and now we have some compelling evidence that it starts to affect us at a pretty young age. An 8-year-old in Ohio was reported missing by her family when they couldn’t find her one morning, until a neighbor’s Ring footage revealed she had taken the family car and driven away. She was later found at a Target 11 miles away.
According to a Bedford Police Department service report, the girl’s family called 911 on Sept. 15 just before 9 a.m. when they discovered she was missing from their home. The family told police they had last seen the little girl around two hours earlier. As the family and police searched for her, a neighbor gave them footage from their Ring doorbell camera that showed the little girl getting into her family’s 2020 Nissan Rogue by herself and driving off at around 7 a.m.
Police started searching the area for the car, but it wasn’t found nearby — officers located it in the neighboring town of Bainbridge in a Target parking lot. The Bainbridge Target is just over 11 miles away, southwest of the family’s home. The police report describing the incident reveals that a Google Maps estimate shows the fastest route (following the speed limit) would take about 25 minutes to get there.
Police officers found the little girl inside Target, safe and unharmed. Her family soon arrived to pick up her—and their car. According to the report, she did admit that she hit a mailbox on her way to her shopping spree.
Since no one was hurt and the incident ended with everyone safe and sound, the Bedford Police joked about it on their Facebook page. Their lighthearted take on the situation attracted a lot of attention.
“Not sure what she bought or if she was even able to use her Target app to save 5%,” the wrote in the post. “We did let her finish her Frappuccino. We’re not mean.”
