My daughter was followed tonight on her way home from work. It was late, and she was scared.

This has always been a fear of mine since she was a tiny baby; someone would try to harm her in some way, threaten her, or attempt to kidnap her.  Although I know I should not live in fear, every time the phone rings when she is not in my line of vision, my entire body tightens up.  I can feel the stress in every muscle as anxiety takes over until I hear in her voice that she is okay.  Then and only then do I sigh a huge sigh of relief.

Earlier tonight she texted as she usually does before pulling away from her place of employment.  She had to work late and help close. I texted back for her to be careful, as it was raining, and that I love her.

A few minutes later, my phone rang.  I knew immediately something was wrong.

“Mama, I think I’m being followed?”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but I think so because every move I make, the person is right there on my tail.  I speed up, they speed up.  They won’t stop following me!”

“Do NOT come home.  Drive around until I get where you are.  I’m coming …” I grabbed my purse and headed out the door with my husband and youngest daughter in tow.

Within seconds, she calls back but to my husband’s phone.  My husband answers this time reassuring her that we are on the way.  She tells him of what she is experiencing with the driver, and I know without a doubt as this information is related that she is, indeed, being followed by someone that is up to no good.

“Call the police!”  I say to my husband.

He continues talking to her.

I grab my phone and shove it in his general direction as I look forward, both hands on the wheel trying not to exceed the speed limit, but anxious to get to my daughter.

“CALL 9-1-1 NOW!”

He hesitated again, always wanting to see the best in people, uncertain at this point if she is really and truly being followed.  My gut instinct tells me that she is not paranoid.  This person IS really following her!  It’s late at night, and I can ONLY imagine that this person has ill intentions toward my daughter!

Within minutes, I reach the area where she is, and I can see it with my own two eyes!  YES, she is, indeed, being followed! I witnessed the car tailgating her and going every where she went. She had previously turned off at a gas station, drove through it and then went back on the main road. Then she turned around on the highway and went back the opposite direction. They, apparently, thought she was going back to the same gas station, so they went straight to it – she turned off when the road split, though. I was right there on their tail at this point and got what looked like 185 3GA as their license plate number. It was dark and raining, and when I pulled in behind them, they sped off. It was a black car with tinted windows, although I could not tell the make, but it was small like a Camry or something similar.

Finally, I hear my husband dialing 9-1-1 and speaking to the dispatcher as we proceeded to follow the car.  My daughter managed to escape from the stalker and was now safe in another location.

The car went at a high rate of speed when they realized we were now following them giving them a taste of their own medicine. They finally drove out of sight as I refused to exceed the speed limit.  It was RAINING, and I was afraid to drive too fast for conditions.  Before the black car went out of sight, I witnessed them swerve in the road.  I did not want to get into an accident and endanger our lives chasing some one that was up to no good in the first place.  Thankfully, God helped me maintain my composure and the ability to think clearly.  We notified our county police who then notified two other counties around us. That was about all we could do at this point.  We saw a cop car waiting on the side of the road a few miles after the black car went out of sight.  We anticipated they would be going in that direction not realizing there was a side road they could take.  Apparently, when they sped out of sight, they went that direction down the side road instead of straight where this cop would have gotten them.  We stopped to tell the police, and they went en route again looking for the black car.

It was all out of our hands.  We notified the authorities, and all we can do is hope the police department ran the license plate and will speak to the registered owner of the vehicle if they were not able to locate or stop this vehicle tonight.

We returned home where my daughter had just arrived as well.  I immediately went to her and hugged her, thanking God for her safety and for His protection.

She attempted to eat, but she was feeling nauseated at this point so she went to lay down in her room instead.  Within minutes, she comes back into the living room where I am sitting and says that a guy she met on an online forum messaged her when he hasn’t talked to her in weeks.  She said he asked what was going on and she told him she was followed tonight.  He responded by saying, “Yea, it was me.”  Whether this guy was joking or not, neither of us were sure, but this is NOT something to make light of.   I told her to call him to see if this truly was him tonight.  She didn’t have his number in her phone any longer, but I did from when she went off with him once before.  I immediately started dialing his number.  He answered but did not say a word.  I called his name, and finally he said, “Yes …” I informed him of who I was and what happened earlier tonight.  I asked if it really was him that followed her, and he stuttered as he said, “No … ma’am … I was … only … joking.”  I took that opportunity to inform him of how scared my daughter was and that this was NOT a time for jokes.  I told him that IF it was him, the police now have a description of his car AND the license plate number because *I* followed the vehicle and made sure to get this information to turn in to the police.  He stumbled over his words once more as he apologized and said he never should have joked with her about it as he did not realize how upset she truly was.  After we hung up, my daughter and I just stood there looking at each other.

She informed me of two individuals that came into her place of employment tonight when she was working.  One asked to date her, but she declined.  The other kept staring her down, which made her feel uncomfortable.

We’ve wracked our brains trying to figure out WHO this could be that followed her.  Was it the person that jokingly said it was him … was it the individual that asked to date her … was it the suspicious guy looking her up and down … or was it someone that picked her out of a crowd and decided tonight was a good night to scare her?!

We’ve had trouble with immature people in the past harassing my daughter at work, asking her co-workers for her work schedule so they could be sure to come up there to bother her, no doubt.   Honestly, we thought we were done with all of that drama since we cut an individual out of our lives that will no longer be allowed to return.  We gave this individual an undeserved second chance.  Why do I say undeserved?  Because we realized after he showed his true colors again that nothing had changed about this individual.  When they came back begging forgiveness, saying how they changed and would work hard to prove it, instead, all we saw was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  This individual attempted to pull the wool over our eyes.  He came back proclaiming to be something he was NOT; therefore, this individual has no place in our lives any longer.  Now we sit and wonder if this person – or his friends – might be behind this just as they were the last time people were bothering my daughter a few short months ago.

Yes, everyone is a suspect at this point, and everything seems suspicious.  We aren’t paranoid.  We’re very much concerned for my daughter’s safety, and trust me — you would be, TOO, if this happened to YOUR child!

As sleep has closed everyone’s eyes in this house, except for mine, I sit still shaken by what took place tonight.  While she and I do not know who is behind this, GOD KNOWS!  Rest assured, HE will have the final say, and the person or persons with ill intent will NOT get away with it. God will see to it! Evil will NOT prevail!

My husband regrets that he wasn’t the one behind the wheel tonight.  While I would not go at a high rate of speed and chance endangering my husband’s life or the life of our youngest child, he said he would have gone just as fast as them to make sure they didn’t get out of his sight.  I knew that was not a smart move, especially on wet roads with as much rain as we have gotten AND with us being on back country roads with deer known to be in the area.  He said he wishes he had a chance to go up to their vehicle to confront them at the gas station before they sped off, but I told him that in this day and age we are living in, we have no way of knowing if someone would pull a gun on him when he approached.  My daughter actually said she was fearful when the vehicle pulled up right beside her on the highway flashing their lights.  She said she leaned way back in her seat so if they did shoot, she wouldn’t be in the line of fire.

Oh, dear GOD!  What a world we are living in when my daughter has to be afraid she’s going to get SHOT at!!

People, this is serious when you have someone following a 19 year old late at night flashing lights, getting up beside her car, etc. They followed her doing this for 30 minutes or more. There was NO doubt what was going on when I saw it happening with my own two eyes. This also happened to me when I was around her age, and I called the police as well. I instructed her that if she wouldn’t have been able to get me on the phone tonight that she was to call 9-1-1 if it happened again and go straight to the police station requesting an officer meet her out front.

She did the right thing by NOT taking these people to her house and NOT stopping to see what they wanted. I will be AT her place of employment when she gets off work when I am in town from now on, and I will escort her home. If I’m not in town, I’ll have someone there to make sure she is SAFE!

People have said before that I’m too involved in her life. TOO INVOLVED????  (Note:  The main ones saying this are the ones that were attempting to harass, stalk, and bully her a few months ago and some so-called-friends that have agreed with them after the fact.)  Well, FYI … She is MY CHILD, and it is MY JOB to PROTECT HER if I can. While there is still breath in my body, REST ASSURED, I WILL DO ALL I CAN FOR HER!

I contacted a friend tonight that works with the highway patrol to ask their opinion and to see if we can do anything further to pursue this with the license plate number.

As I close, here is a little bit of advice. Hold your children close – no matter their age and no matter WHO tries to get in your business and tell you that you’re “too involved.” At least my daughter knows she is LOVED and I will ALWAYS have her back!  As long as God allows me to be on this earth with her, she can ALWAYS depend on ME!

Parents, talk to your children and let them know what to do if THEY feel they are being followed.  You can not be too safe here when your children are involved.  It’s a sad world we’re living in when this type of conversation is needed with our children, but PLEASE … talk to them.  Instruct them on what to do to ensure they are safe!  It is a conversation you need to have in this day and age.

Never miss an opportunity to tell your children how much they mean to you, how much you love them, and ALWAYS hold them close to your heart no matter how old they get.  They will always be your children, and they always need your love.

And finally, pray … without ceasing … PRAY for your children!!

God is with them.  God is for them.  God is in them.

Oh, Father God, protect our children.  Each and every one!