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Carjacked baby was in road for more than an hour

Ava Wilmer was abandoned by carjackers, left on South Fulton Parkway during Wednesday’s freezing termperatures. Photo courtesy WSB TV
Ava Wilmer was abandoned by carjackers, left on South Fulton Parkway during Wednesday’s freezing termperatures. Photo courtesy WSB TV
By Bo Emerson
Jan 18, 2018

It was a lucky chance that one-month-old Ava Wilmer wasn’t frozen by the wind or crushed by a car as she lay in her car seat on South Fulton Parkway Wednesday night, halfway on the shoulder and halfway in the road.

“It is a miracle that no one hit her,” said Thamara Booker, 41, who saw the car seat in the road, near I-285 around 5:30 p.m. as she was driving to work. Like the other drivers around her, she assumed the car seat was empty.

The infant and her 4-year-old sister Arya Davenport were in the back of an SUV that was stolen from a Quik Trip on Riverdale Road at around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Ava Wilner recovering in the hospital after being left in subfreezing temperatures. Photo: WSB TV
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Shortly after the search for the children began Arya was discovered walking down a roadway near Riverdale Road by Georgia State University police Chief Joseph Spillane.

To learn more about the little girls' rescue read the full story at MyAJC.com

About the Author

Bo Emerson is an Atlanta native and a long-time AJC feature and news writer.

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