A 9-year-old boy's love of gospel music may have saved his life.
Willie Myrick was playing in the driveway of his southwest Atlanta, Ga., with his pet Chihuahua on March 31 when a man grabbed and forced him into his car, police told WSB-TV, a local station. The fourth grader sang a gospel song for hours until his kidnapper snapped and set him free.
"He was cursing at me telling me to shut up and didn't want to hear a word from me," Myrick told a WSB-TV. "He said if I told anyone, he would hurt me, like in a bad way."
Willie says he sang the gospel song "Every Praise" until the man let him go, the Washington Times reported.
The song begins with the words, "Every praise is to our God. Every word of worship with one accord."
Myrick said his kidnapper drove him around for nearly three hours before dropping him off at Potomac Terrace, north of Camp Creek Parkway in East Point; an area miles away from his home.
"He opened the door and threw me out," Willie said. "He told me not to tell anyone."
The boy went to several homes in that East Point neighborhood asking for help. An elderly man let him in and called the cops and his godmother, WSB-TV reported.
The fourth grader told reporters he was not harmed during the ordeal. His godmother said the boy was taken to a hospital for examination.
Community leaders held a meeting on Thursday in Willie's honor, "celebrating his happy ending, but also telling other parents and children what to do if this happens to them," USA Today reported.
There is currently a $10,000 reward for the capture of Myrick's abductor who is described as a light-skinned black man in his late 20s. The man had neck-length dreadlocks. He was wearing a Nike shirt, khaki shorts and white Air Force 1 sneakers.
