7 Kids Who Helped Solve Crimes

Children are messy, hyper, allergic to lots of things, and vomit a lot more often than adults do. Despite these deficits, they can sometimes be counted on to help resolve a crime. Check out seven times kids lent a (probably sticky) hand and brought criminals to justice.

1. THE DRAWING THAT HELPED SOLVE A HIT AND RUN

Recklinghausen Police

Let’s face it: Most kids aren’t budding Picassos, and their early artwork is bound either for the refrigerator door or the trash. But two cousins in northwest Germany—one eight years old, the other nine—had enough illustrative talent to communicate to authorities exactly what happened when a driver ran into a parked car in their tiny town of Oer-Erkenschwick in early 2017. The boys showed police the route the offending vehicle took and also provided a description, which led to the errant operator being located.

2. THE GRADE SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO NABBED A VANDAL

Filing into classes on a Monday morning in 2005, 20 grade school students at the Brookstead State School in Queensland, Australia noticed that someone had slashed their tennis court nets. Unfortunately for the perpetrator, the kids had been taking a forensic science class that term and knew how to secure the scene and collect evidence. They photographed footprints on the court and turned them over to police. When the thief returned a second night to steal food from the school, police caught up with him and matched his shoes to the prints. Justice served.

3. THE STICK FIGURE SKETCH ARTIST

Forensic artists typically use eyewitness descriptions to draw composite sketches of possible criminal suspects, a skill that can take years of training to perfect. Alternately, it seems, police can just ask an 11-year-old girl to do it. Cops in Stratford, Connecticut were investigating a rash of burglaries in 2015 and began knocking on doors to see if anyone had any information to offer. One resident, Rebecca DePietro, volunteered to draft a rough sketch of a man she had seen following a break-in at her family home. The doodle was compared to a photo police had of a suspect that helped confirm his identity. His arrest led to a subsequent confession to 10 break-ins. Police honored DePietro at a ceremony for her role in helping curb the crime spree.

4. THE 8-YEAR-OLD WHO SMASHED A CRIME RING

Nashville, Tennessee native Landon Crabtree felt the sting of the morally corrupt when thieves broke into his family’s home in 2012 and made off with his PlayStation and iPad. Insurance covered the losses, but Crabtree was annoyed that the perp had gone unpunished. Incensed, the 8-year-old loaded up an app called Find My iPhone that’s able to locate a device with iTunes on it and pinpoint its location via GPS. Crabtree showed his father exactly where it was, and he shared that information with police. The burglar was found with a trove of stolen materials; the tiny Elliot Ness told the press he plans to be an FBI agent when he grows up.

5. THE GRANDDAUGHTER WHO SHAMED THE COPS

When her grandmother’s home in Atlanta, Georgia was burglarized in 2011, 12-year-old Jessica Maple used skills acquired during a summer camp for aspiring district attorneys to expedite results. Despite police telling her someone would have needed a key to get into the home, Maple found that the attached garage had been broken into. She also discovered some of her relative’s possessions at a pawn shop down the road. The store owner knew the men who had brought in the items, which allowed Maple to confront him directly (which is not recommended, junior detectives) and provoke a confession. Police eventually made an arrest, which is fine, since Maple was probably about to do that, too.

6. THE TYKE WHO SPOTTED A STOLEN BIKE

An unidentified six-year-old in Portland, Oregon was watching the evening news in late 2016 when he saw a story on a stolen bike. The owner, Jason Eland, was distressed that his only mode of transport was missing. Some time later, the boy spotted the bike while out with his parents. He told them and they phoned in a tip to police, who matched the serial number and eventually arrested the alleged thief. It's probably not a cool jail story that the citizen who put you away has only a 50/50 chance of successfully tying his own shoes.

7. THE KIDS WHO FORMED A HUMAN ARROW TO POINT TO SUSPECTS

It was supposed to be a relaxing Easter egg hunt. But when parents and their kids in Capel, Surrey outside London headed for a field in April 2016, they found themselves caught up in a police chase. As a helicopter buzzed overhead, the kids formed a human arrow large enough for the pilot to spot that it was pointing in the direction the thieves were headed. The chopper relayed the information to police on the ground, who captured the two suspects without further incident. After landing to thank the children, authorities happily accepted some chocolate intended for the Easter party.