NewYorkTimes -The girl, 16, was using a new distress signal, tucking her thumb into her palm before closing her fingers over it, according to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office. The signal, created by the Canadian Women’s Foundation for people to indicate that they are at risk of abuse and need help, has spread largely through TikTok in the past year.

Pretty scary story with a happy ending from Kentucky.

A 16-year-old girl was missing from her home in North Carolina after a non-related acquaintance abducted her and traveled for 2 days before being caught in Kentucky.

And it was all because of this hand signal that was created by a women's foundation in Canada:

Don't feel bad if you didn't know about this hand signal. According to the New York Times piece. The local authorities had not heard of it either. It took the most addictive app on your phone since Candy Crush to get that information to the authorities.

The Lexington Police Chief added that he'd like this to be more common knowledge to help others in distress.

Also, according to the Times, experts say that if you see someone signal you in this way to not immediately call the authorities, but to try and engage the person giving the signal. Call authorities if you can't or get a bad feeling after further investigation.

All thanks to the TikTok?

If you haven't tried the TikTok yet, tread carefully. It's algorithm is freakishly accurate. You'll definitely find a lot of useful content on the app but it will be interspersed with some of the biggest wasts of time you'll ever see.

I'll be watching a guy explain how to make a miter saw, even though I'll never use a miter saw, then some lady in a weird shirt will be doing a livestream where she's talkinnga bout the Friends episode she's watching, then it's some incredible looking egg dish that'll i"ll make some day, then it'll be some disgusting egg dish that'll make me want to puke, then it'll be 5 dog videos.

And it's somehow 2 hours later than when I started. It's wild.

Anyway. Remember this possible life saving tip.

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