It was a tense Saturday in South Fulton when what should’ve been a routine supervised visit turned into a frantic search. At around 11:15 a.m., under police accounts, Vanessa Carr was meeting with her four children at Welcome Park when she suddenly walked off with them in an unknown vehicle.
The four children—Genesis (4), Jahdim (2), Vincent (11 months), and Jaxon Harrell (9)—were in the care of Georgia’s Department of Family & Children Services (DFACS) at the time of the visit. Police say Vanessa Carr was last seen wearing a burgundy sweatshirt and gray sweatpants.
As word spread, law enforcement mobilized. All available units were reported sweeping the area, in search of both the children and Carr. Because authorities lacked sufficient information about the vehicle involved, no Amber Alert was issued.
Later in the day, officials confirmed a breakthrough: Carr and the children were located at a Greyhound bus station in Atlanta. The children have been safely returned to DFACS custody.
Carr was taken into custody and authorities say she faces at least four counts of kidnapping, with additional charges expected pending further investigation. The case remains under active investigation as authorities work to flesh out motives, timeline, and the details of how she managed to evade detection until the bus station encounter.
Neighbors and witnesses say the park was crowded—coinciding, as FOX 5 reports, with an annual local event called “Yeet Fest,” which may have contributed to the chaos and delayed immediate recognition of the incident. Tensions in community groups have flared as people wonder how a case like this could unfold without immediate alerts, and what safety measures were (or were not) in place during supervised visits.
As the legal machinery gears up and more details emerge, the priority now is ensuring the welfare and support of the children, clarity in the investigation, and an explanation for how such a drastic lapse occurred in what is supposed to be a controlled environment.
