BlackBerry Saves Kidnapped Woman

[RamboLiberal]

On Sunday evening, 57-year-old Mary Wilkerson of Susquehanna Township, Pa., went to dinner with her neighbor Robert Scott and his wife. Wilkerson drove that night, and when Scott returned home later he realized he had left his BlackBerry in Wilkerson's car.

The next day Wilkerson's son called the police -- his mother had vanished from her home during the night.

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"I began to talk, and I said, 'You know, I think my BlackBerry is in Mary's car,' and they said, 'Oh my God, that's all we need," Scott told "Good Morning America."

Using the BlackBerry's signal as a homing beacon, police worked with U.S. marshals and were able to track down Mary's car on Tuesday. They found it in an alley about eight miles from her home.

Then they heard noises coming from the trunk.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7878837&page=1

[derby378]

1. Simply amazing

This is one of the few times that it's good to be able to trace someone's Blackberry down with surveillance gear.

Mary needs to learn how to shoot a pistol. But I'm glad she's going to be all right.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. Of course, there's always the distinct possibility that knowing how to shoot a pistol...

...would have resulted in a much less pleasant outcome for Ms. Wilkerson.

[The Traveler]

4. There is also the distinct possibility

in situations like this that tracing the cell phone would have merely lead to a more rapid recovery of a corpse. The woman is lucky to have been found alive. In these situations, it is often a case of "which horn of the bull" one wishes to face. I myself see no advantage in not being able to defend myself. (I don't carry a firearm normally, I must add. I have other means of defense.) Others argue against that. Take your pick. Your mileage may vary, of course.


Trav

[DeschutesRiver]

7. Yep to all thoughts there

most kidnapping victims don't live to tell about it. I don't think the statistics on this have changed all that much over the years - I've heard law enforcement say you need to fight to prevent being taken to another location, because that means the likelihood is your kidnapper intends to cause your death at the end of the event. Proper proficiency and use of a concealed weapon, along with good judgment/common sense/patience moves the odds greatly in your favor of surviving the event instead of dirt napping.

And yeah, anyone who would get the pistol just to flash it around like they were in an action flick in the event of a kidnapping emergency could get injured or injure a bystander, etc. But those kind of people shouldn't ever own a gun. If a person just wants it as a prop, and has no intention of gaining the skill to use it responsibly, don't bother. Heck, if you don't use a car responsibly you can kill/injure yourself or others, and many people do just that every year, with the legal use of cars causing far more harm than the legal use of guns have ever caused. I kind of wish a lot of people would lose their privilege/license to drive a vehicle, but that's another gripe for another day.

I'd further bet that if you could bring back to life every single person who was killed after the kidnapper moved them to a second location, and ask if they'd like to re-live the event, but this time armed with a pistol, the answer would be a yes, with no hesitation.

I am happy and amazed at the luck of the misplaced blackberry preventing her from becoming a statistic. That is an incredibly lucky woman and a great ending to what could have be a tragedy.

[mainer]

3. It still had a charge? Can you home in if the battery's dead?

My Blackberry goes dead within 36 hours.

[EOTE]

6. You might need a new battery.

I've got an 8820 And with my new battery and a full charge, I can get about a week's worth of mild usage on a single charge. When I got rid of my previous battery, I was only getting about a day of usage on a single charge.

[Johonny]

5. Thank God John McCain invented that