Surrey man helps trace missing four-year-old in US with free pizza

A man from Surrey has helped trace a missing four-year old in the US after convincing her captor to reveal his location online through the promise of a free pizza.

Harry Brown, a supermarket worker from Stanwell, found the little girl, Yvette Henley, after making contact via Facebook with her estranged father, who had taken her to a motel in Arizona.

Henley's grandparents had been awarded custody of the four-year-old after concerns over the girl's safety but US police had been unable to locate her after almost two weeks of searching.

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In desperation, Henley's grandparents Gary and Kim Forester had begun messaging people who were friends with Yvette's father Virgil on Facebook.

Brown had been "stacking shelves in his job at Sainsbury's when he received the plea for help from the other side of the world," says The Times.

The UK man had previously become "friends" with Virgil Henley on Facebook "through a third party but he did not know him personally," reports the BBC. After receiving the plea from Yvette's grandparents, he decided he would try to help locate the missing girl by making contact with her father.

Brown told the broadcaster he spoke to Virgil Henley for two days before he convinced him to reveal his exact location, as soon as he had the room number and address of the Motel where the group were staying he passed it on to Gary Forester, who alerted the police.

He said the idea of offering to buy Henley pizza just popped into his head. "I eat so much pizza in my life [the idea] just came to me."

San Bernadino County Sheriff's Department confirmed Forester had reported Yvette missing on the day he was granted guardianship and that child protection services had collected Yvette from an address in Arizona. The four-year-old is now living with her grandparents.

Brown told the Daily Mirror: "I spend my life on the internet but little did I know that talking to random people would lead to me finding this little girl."

"She is loving where she is now. I cried so much when I saw the photos of her with her grandparents."

Forester, writing on Facebook, paid tribute to Brown for his actions.

"I battled every day with multiple local authorities who didn’t take me seriously," he wrote.

"Harry, all the way in London, England, was the only one who helped and found our Yvette. Harry will always be in our family’s hearts."