Backyard birder whose quick thinking ended AMBER Alert receives award
Barbara Gusse s story that day went viral.
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The backyard bird watcher who helped save a child that was the subject of an AMBER Alert was given an award for her quick thinking that day.
Barbara Gusse, from Brooklyn Center, was at home, feeding the birds in her yard on Feb. 6 when an AMBER Alert came though on her phone: A 1-year-old boy in the back of a stolen vehicle, authorities searching frantically to locate him on the cold, wintry day.
It wasn t long before Gusse noticed a vehicle matching the description of the one in the AMBER Alert - a white Jeep - in the parking lot of a church across the street, idling. She grabbed her binoculars, normally reserved for admiring the birds in her yard, and zoomed in on the license plate. A match.
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has honored a Brooklyn Center woman who alerted authorities when she spotted a stolen vehicle with a missing child in it.
Barbara Gusse picked up her bird-watching binoculars and identified an SUV across from her house in a church parking lot, as one that was stolen being sought in an Amber Alert on Saturday. Police came and rescued the child, who was still strapped in the back seat.
Frey proclaimed Tuesday as Barbara Gusse Day to honor her actions. You have quite literally saved a life and you should be honored as such, Frey said in a video posted on social media. It showed him giving the proclamation to Gusse in the front yard of her home.
Frey proclaims Tuesday Barbara Gusse Day in Minneapolis after she spotted stolen vehicle with child inside Photo: City of Minneapolis. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey presents Brooklyn Center grandmother and observant bird watcher Barbara Gusse with a proclamation recognizing her quick actions and heroic role in the safe return of 1-year-old Da’Merion White. KSTP Created: February 09, 2021 04:44 PM
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey proclaimed Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, Barbara Gusse Day in the city of Minneapolis.
After an Amber Alert was issued on Saturday, Gusse noticed an unusual car parked and running outside the church across the street from her home. Gusse used her birdwatching binoculars to correctly identify the vehicle as the one matching the Amber Alert and phoned 911. Her call helped end a nearly two-hour search and helped avoid a more tragic outcome as Minnesota s temperatures plunged below-zero.