MILWAUKEE — Cheers broke out behind crime scene tape Saturday evening after 7-year-old Jamal White was reunited with his family — ending a statewide Amber Alert that began late Friday night.
“He looked at us. We said, ‘You okay cousin?’ He said, ‘Yeah,’” said Nikki Harrington, who along with her cousin Raven Jackson, had been searching tirelessly since Jamal’s disappearance.
“We all got to see him. We all got to say, ‘I love you.’ We all were there.”
Milwaukee police say Jamal was kidnapped around 7:10 p.m. Friday near 61st and Hustis Street.
A man armed with a handgun allegedly forced Jamal into a white Jeep Renegade and drove off. The suspect was described as a Black male wearing a black zip-up hoodie and a black face mask.
TMJ4 News obtained doorbell footage that shows Jamal riding a bike moments before screams can be heard — a video his cousins say still brings them to tears.
“Just to think about what he may have been going through…” Jackson said. “Wondering if he was going to make it out alive. Am I ever going to see my mom again? My family again? That’s heartbreaking.”
The screams ignited a massive community effort. Volunteers from across Wisconsin joined the search, knocking on doors and passing out flyers.
“I came down as a dad,” said Craig “I-Inspiration” Larson from Racine. “When I heard that boy calling for his daddy, as a father, I just came right away.”
Larson said the community rallied in every direction to help.
“As a mom, the worst nightmare is to have your kid come up missing,” added Dasha Abrams of Milwaukee. “The worst nightmare.”
The search ended near 39th and Lloyd Saturday evening, where police were stationed outside a home. Family members say that’s where Jamal was found safe.
“This was a win,” Larson said. “We’re on the other side of the caution tape with good news. Reunited a family. That’s why I’m emotional. I don’t know these people, but I felt like they brought my kid home.”
Jamal was taken to the hospital for evaluation, family members say.
“Baby J hit home for a lot of people,” Jackson said. “He’s a baby. He’s an innocent child. He’s seven years old. He could be anybody’s child.”
Neighbors told TMJ4 News they saw someone taken into custody. TMJ4 has reached out to Milwaukee police for further information and will update this story as more details become available.
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