Teen girl abducted by man, 61, saved when she gave Tik Tok distress signal to passing driver who called cops

A MISSING teenager abducted by a man has been saved after she used distress hand signals that were recognised by a passing driver.

The hand signals, created by a women’s charity, went viral on TikTok in the wake of the pandemic as domestic violence spiked during lockdown.

Laurel County SheriffBrick was arrested while a Kentucky interstate on Thursday[/caption]

Women’s Funding NetworkThis signal was crucial for the girl to make someone aware that she wasn’t safe[/caption]

The girl from North Carolina was inside a silver Toyota when a motorist in another vehicle saw her using the gesture that was created to help address a worldwide rise in domestic violence, Laurel County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky said.

The driver called 911 after recognising what the hand signal meant and noticing that the teenager “appeared to be in distress”, the sheriff’s office added.

Police later arrested James Herbert Brick, 61, of Cherokee, North Carolina, while he was driving near a Kentucky interstate on Thursday afternoon.

The teenager found inside the car Brick was driving had been reported missing by her parents in Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday morning, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said in a statement.

Investigators also located a phone in Brick’s possession that “allegedly portrayed a juvenile female in a sexual manner,” Sheriff Root said.

Brick is facing charges of unlawful imprisonment and possession of material showing a sex performance by a minor over the age of 12 but under 18, according to the sheriff’s office.

He’s being held at the Laurel County Correctional Center on a $10,000 (£7,408) cash bond.

The gesture which went viral on TikTok and across social media last year involves putting your palm up before tucking your thumb in and closing your fingers.

For example, it could allow a person to silently alert a family member, friend, or colleague during a video call or when answering the door.

It was launched by the Women’s Funding Network and the Canadian Women’s Foundation during the early days of the pandemic to help address a rise in domestic violence while lockdown measures were in place.

Advice to use the gesture spread across the world with the help of social media.