16-Year-Old Rescued 3 Children from Sex Trafficking by Stopping the Kidnapper

Sixteen-year-old Canaan Bower was lauded as a hero after stopping a kidnapping.

Canaan stopped the suspect by pinning him down to the floor. Witnesses told police he tried to kidnap three children at a gas station.

The mother told police that she was waiting for an Uber ride with her children, ages 9, 2, and 1 when the suspect suddenly grabbed her 2-year-old child and demanded the mother to turn over her children.

Canaan told his father Troy Bower that “Punches were being thrown and (he could hear) screams of terror, so he jumped in his truck and went across the street.”

Troy said Canaan told him he body-slammed the suspect and got him in a chokehold until police arrived.

Troy told the Las Cruces Sun-News that he found out about what happened when his wife called him, asking him if Canaan has called him. His wife was extremely worried after Canaan called her to say he wrestled a man who was trying to hurt some kids at a gas station. And then he hung up.

“You fear for your own child’s safety in that situation,” Troy said. “You don’t know if this guy’s maybe got a gun or a knife — you don’t know what this guy’s capable of.”

Troy began calling his son while driving to the gas station. When Canaan was not picking up, he started to panic and called the gas station to ask for his son’s whereabouts.

The clerk answered the phone in a shaky voice: “Oh my God sir, your son…your son…was…awesome.

Eventually, Canaan called his dad. He said: ‘Dad, I just did what I had to do. That lady and her kids needed me. I held the guy until the police showed up and then I went about my day.’

In a story submitted to Love What Matters by Troy, he wrote: Later that afternoon, I saw Canaan walking across the lawn to the front door. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly. After our embrace, he looked me in the eye…beaming with joy. Not for what he had done, but because his heart was full. I was proud of him. I squeezed him. I didn’t even let the front door shut before he found himself swallowed up in my arms. ‘Dad, you would’ve done the same thing.’ 

‘I like to believe I would’ve done the same thing.’

“Truth is, none of us know until we find ourselves in that situation… We’ve all got busy lives, places to be. So busy that many of us would not see or hear the commotion right in front of us. Others would rather be the hero that called 911 or filmed it on our phones for social media to see. We don’t know what we would do, none of us. But you, son, have it on your resume. You did it.

The Bowers later learned Canaan prevented the kidnapping of 3 children who were headed for sex trafficking.

“Death or a horrible life awaited those innocent kids had Canaan not stepped up and did what he had to do,” Troy wrote.

The attempted kidnapping happened last year but stories like this need to be retold to remind us that there are good people out there — heroes like Canaan Bower.

Source: HuffPost/InspireMore