A Woman Using A Fake Amber Alert To Get Her Stolen Car Found Is A Bit Unethical But A Great Idea

10TV – The mother who said her child was taken when someone stole her vehicle has been charged with falsification.

An Amber Alert was issued in central Ohio Monday as Jessica Pickett told police her 4-year-old daughter, Janylia Fails, was in a vehicle stolen from her home.

Authorities say the mother told police she had her car running in front of her home on North 4th Street and her daughter Janylia was sleeping in the backseat.

Officers responded to the area and were able to find the vehicle roughly a mile away but no child was inside.

Investigators were able to determine the child was never in the car. Janylia’s aunt told police she was with the girl Sunday night through Monday morning.

Franklin County Children Services has taken Janylia and two siblings, ages 5 and 2, into protective custody.

Okay well I guess it’s not technically a “great idea” when you’re getting charged with crimes and losing your children to protective custody. But as a person who doesn’t want to get your car stolen and knows cops are maybe a little unenthusiastic tracking one down…it’s a pretty savvy idea. Cops are probably a bit too busy to go chasing down your lovingly maintained ’89 Corolla but you have an adorable toddler inside, there’s a little more pep in their step getting your car back without a single hair on your pine tree air freshener harmed. Unethical? A bit of a breach of trust? Maybe not the smartest given that there would be no child inside when the car was found? All fair points with the gift of “hindsight” and “logical thought.” But I’m a results guy and I’ll be damned if I sit here and penalize unconventional thought that yields tangible results. Jessica Pickett deserves some applause even if you withhold her Mother of the Year plaque.

That said taking the kids away seems a little unfair. Not like she did anything to the kids or ACTUALLY lost them. I can’t say that I’ve got high parenting hopes for someone who’d pretend to lose their child to save their car in a world where insurance exists but to say she did something actually detrimental to the kids is a bit unfair. Kids can’t even be an unwitting part of a good grift these days and nothing brings a family together quite like as good lie. It’s a shame what’s happened to families in America.