Benjamin Smith is thankful to Theresa Shanley from California; she’s the woman who helped bring his daughter Brittany Smith home after she had been kidnapped by her mother’s boyfriend and missing for over a week.
On Dec. 6, police issued an Amber Alert for 12-year-old Brittany after her mother’s body was found in her Virginia home and Brittany was missing, ABC News reports.
The middle schooler was spotted by Shanley on Friday with her 32-year-old kidnapper Jeffrey Scott Easley, (also a suspect in the murder of Brittany’s mother) as they were begging for money in front of a supermarket in San Francisco.
Thanks to photos of Smith circulating the web and TV, Shanley knew it had to be her because of a distinguishing characteristic. “Because Virginia was so far away, I thought it couldn’t possibly be her, but the brown eyes is what got me … her big brown eyes.” Shanley immediately notified the police and they were both taken into custody.
Brittany’s dad is thrilled to have his daughter back in his life unharmed. “I thought that the happiest day of my life was when my daughter was born. Tonight has taken the number one spot,” Benjamin Smith said to the press with tears in his eyes. When thinking about what Shanley had done, he thanks her by saying, “It’s not anything that I could say to describe you the way my heart feels about you … A simple thank you and God bless you.”
Screengrab via ABC News.