Community celebrates safe return of abducted 7-year-old

By TJ Dysart

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    MILWAUKEE (WISN) — After a frantic 24-hour search, 7-year-old Jamal White was found safe in Milwaukee, bringing relief to his family and the community.

Police discovered Jamal near 39th and Lloyd in Milwaukee, about six-and-a-half miles from where masked men in a white Jeep Renegade abducted him at gunpoint the previous night.

The abduction triggered a statewide Amber Alert Friday night.

“We was just all together not even two hours ago, the community came through and we found him safe and sound alive,” Jamal’s cousin, Nikki Harrington, said.

Hours earlier, Harrington had been searching frantically with her entire family until she received the call about Jamal’s safety.

The crime scene quickly transformed into a celebration, with hundreds of people gathering to wipe away tears of joy. Motorcycles revved their engines in celebration as Jamal reunited with his family.

“He came standing right here and I said, ‘Are you OK, cousin?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘OK,’ and they took him to the car,” Raven Jackson, Jamal’s cousin, said.

Community activist Vaun Mayes began streaming on Facebook Live when he noticed the large police presence.

“I saw the lights down here and I was like, I don’t know what’s going on down here,” Mayes said. “They saying he was found, I am trying to confirm.”

Police have yet to release information regarding the circumstances of Jamal’s abduction, but his family is just happy to have him back.

“He seen all of us there, we all got to see him, we all got to say, ‘I love you.’ So, he looked at us and we said, ‘Are you OK, cousin?’ and he said, ‘Yeah,'” Jackson said.

The community expressed gratitude for law enforcement and credited each other for Jamal’s safe return.

“Super grateful for the city and the citizens of the city that has been assisting, searching, sharing the posts, trying to track down the car. This has been not only law enforcement, shout out to them, but the vigilance of the citizens. We don’t play about kids in Milwaukee. I know we have a lot of negative connotations, but when it comes to stuff like this, people show out for our city,” Mayes said.

While the family reported that four masked men took Jamal, there have been no confirmed arrests. Multiple people at the scene mentioned seeing at least one person escorted in handcuffs, but it remains unclear if that person was related to the incident.

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