LAFAYETTE, La (KLFY)-- The recent theft of a vehicle with a little girl in the back seat is sparking conversations amongst law enforcement. After the child's safe return, Kids and Car Safety, a non-profit organization, and the Lafayette Police Department shared the importance of situational awareness and keeping children in vehicles safe.

According to Kids and Car Safety, 265 kids were in a stolen vehicle in 2022 alone and with numbers rise each year. Their goal is to bring awareness to how quickly a car can be taken with a child in the vehicle.

Toni Faulk, the mother of the 8-year-old girl who was in the back seat of her vehicle when it was taken said she wants everyone to know it only takes a second for something like what she experienced to happen.

"It happened in minutes," Faulk said. "I literally I seen my car and I turned around again. It was gone."

She said she's just beyond grateful to get her daughter back and wants other parents to know, it's not worth leaving their child alone in a car. Janette Fennell, with Kids and Car Safety, a non-profit organization said kids being taken in cars can happen in less than five seconds and happens typically around the holidays.

"Car thieves actually hang out at certain locations that they know parents may think that they can just run in for a minute and they'll be back," Fennell said. "But in many cases, is it can happen in less than 5 seconds where someone turns back, they're going in, and the car is gone. And particularly at this time of year when everybody's kind of in a hurry and they might let their guard down a little bit, they need to really make sure that they're never left alone in a vehicle."

Fennell said there are ways to keep children safe and instead of leaving them unattended, some alternatives are using drive-thrus, delivery pickup, having someone bring your child to the care, or even have childcare. Lieutenant Jace Quebedeaux with the LPD said because car thefts happen so quickly, it is better to keep the child with you to ensure their safety.

"Don't leave a child potentially in a motor vehicle," Quebedeaux said. "And listen, this is in no way, shape or form any type of blame. It's we want to make sure that they're safe. We want to make sure that they're right there with us all the time."

Faulk said she cannot express enough the importance of not leaving children in the car because anything can happen in a second.

"It's not something I do often," Faulk said. "But, you know, it just so happens to happen. And it doesn't have to be the first time the second time, you know, there's how it could happen at any time. Don't leave your kids in a car, even if it's only for a minute or 30 seconds, because that's all it took for me to, you know, lose my daughter in the blink of an eye."

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