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Atlanta sisters kidnapped: 911 call
Newly released 911 audio captures the mother of Zola and Norah Cooper reporting her daughters missing after the woman caring for them stopped responding. FOX 5's Marc Teichner reporting.
ATLANTA - Newly released 911 calls reveal the frantic moments after a mother realized something was wrong with the woman caring for her two young daughters, setting off a search that ended with Atlanta police breaking into a sweltering trailer to rescue the children.
What we know:
Zola Cooper, 4, and her 11-month-old sister, Norah, were found Monday at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex with 42-year-old Lakeisha Brown, who now faces kidnapping and first-degree child cruelty charges.
The girls' mother told police she had met Brown about a year earlier through an online group for mothers. She said it was the first time she had allowed Brown to take the children without her being present.
'My two daughters'
What they're saying:
The newly released 911 recording begins with a dispatcher asking the mother who was missing.
"My two daughters, Zola Cooper and Norah Cooper," she responded.
When asked their ages, she told the dispatcher they were 4 years old and 11 months old.
The mother initially described Brown as a friend who had been caring for the children. As the call continued, she explained why she had become increasingly concerned.
According to the mother, Brown claimed she and the girls had been involved in an accident and that the children had been transferred to a children's hospital.
But Brown then stopped answering calls and text messages.
"She's not answering her phone or she's not picking up her phone. She's not texting back," the mother told the dispatcher.
The mother said she began calling hospitals herself but could not locate her daughters.
"I called all the hospitals and they're not in nobody's system," she said.
Officers race to get inside trailer
What they did:
Police eventually received information from someone at the apartment complex about a woman staying in a trailer on the property. Atlanta police said the department's fugitive unit acted on the tip.
Body camera video shows officers desperately trying to get through a lock to reach the children.
Officers initially struck the lock with a cinder block before someone arrived with bolt cutters.
"Hey, we got bolt cutters. We got bolt cutters," an officer can be heard saying.
After breaking through, officers found Zola and Norah inside along with Brown.
"I got the baby," an officer said as the children were removed.
Police describe dangerous conditions
More details:
According to an arrest warrant, the temperature outside was 97 degrees when officers found the children. Police said the trailer had no air conditioning and only an overhead ventilation system.
Brown was arrested and charged with kidnapping and first-degree child cruelty. She waived her first court appearance Tuesday and remained in the Fulton County Jail.
The case is also raising questions about Brown's past. According to police, this is not the first time she has been accused of a similar crime. In 2021, Brown was accused of kidnapping in a separate case.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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