Everything Under The Sun: Amber Alert Saves A Kidnapped Child

Brooklynne Enix, with some pumpkins.

One woman dead and her child missing - that could be a headline from just about anywhere. This particular tragedy happened in Knoxville, TN, leaving a mother of three girls dead. Kimberly Enix, the mother, who was also a social worker specializing in domestic violence, had a very giving heart. But all of that wasn't enough to keep Kimberly from become abused herself.

The grandmother who raised her, Dorothy Graham remembers, "I saw the bruises on her arms and shoulders. He threatened to kill her twice." An aunt, Cheryl Kemp, who was raised in the same home with Kimberly, said, "She did get out of the situation, once she realized how bad of a situation it was." By April of this year, her divorce with her ex-husband was finalized, but even that was not enough to remove him from her life. According to Cheryl, "She did try her best to keep her and her daughter safe. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and here we are."

Here we are is rather gruesome. Failure to show up at work caused co-workers to alert police to perform a welfare check. They found Kimberly Enix dead and her daughter Brooklynne, age two, missing. Through investigation, police identified Kimberly's ex-husband as the alleged killer and the abductor of their daughter. That's when the amber alert was issued.

Enter war veteran Stephen Adams, two states over, in Morrow County, Ohio. Mr. Adams had been on the road to make a doctor's appointment that he hadn't realized had been cancelled. So he ended up on the same road that the abductor was travelling with the cute little girl in the back seat. There she was, a bubbly toddler, waving at Mr. Adams. There was something about that car... Maybe it was the one the police were trying to find; it did have Tennessee plates.

So, Mr. Adams called 911, even though he couldn't quite see all of the digits on the plate. So, he offered to pull closer and read the numbers off. That was the one! He kept following the car, reporting its location until police could catch up and stop that car's driver. It ended with the arrest of the man/father who had abducted young Brooklynne and the young toddler in the safe care of Ohio's Department of Children's Services, completely safe and uninjured. Arrangements are being made between Ohio and Tennessee for Brooklynne's return to her home state. Two older sisters, Alexia, 15, and Olivia, 11, along with their father, Chris Morrison, are awaiting her return and hoping to add her to their family.

Daughters Alexia and Olivia Morrison carry candles in memory of mother, Kimberly Enix.

As for Mr. Adams, the man in the right place at the right time, Knoxville police are reporting that they plan to give him an award of $1,000 for his actions. However, Mr. Adams, quite taken with the waving little girl whom he saved, plans to give that money back to Brooklynne. Although a quite beautiful mother lost her life, some people who never knew her family gave back the gift of a little girl, who can now look forward to growing up with the comfort of remaining family members and a supportive community.