Noah Trout, 2, was taken from Ripplemead, Virginia’s Riverview Baptist Church’s nursery on the Sunday morning of May 2, 2021, by an unidentified woman. Authorities issued an Amber Alert at 7 P.M. on Sunday night. News outlets and local citizens posted frantically for everyone to be on the lookout because Noah was considered to be in “extreme danger” by the state police.
On Monday May 3, 2021, the Giles County Sheriff’s Office announced that the abducted Noah Trout has been safely found with the help of FBI agents and Virginia State Police tactical team members. Noah was with FBI agents and Virginia State Police tactical team members, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Responses from the church’s Facebook page regarding Trout being safely found were filled with thankfulness and praise. Here are a few:
Praise God!!! Oh thank You Jesus! Thank You Jesus!!!! Our prayers are answered!!!
Praise God for his protection and bringing him back to his family!
God heard and answers our prayers! Praise the Lord he is safe!
God is good and so faithful!
Information on Noah Trout’s Abduction
Riverview Baptist Church‘s senior pastor Mike Mitchener wrote on his Facebook page Monday morning, “Please join me in prayer today for the Trout family and the safe return of little Noah. Let’s also pray earnestly for the law enforcement agents working on this case. Psalm 27 is on my heart if you would like to join me in a moment of personal meditation this morning. Noah is greatly loved!”
The church postponed all remaining activities on Sunday and opened the sanctuary for people to come together and pray.
It was reported that a suspicious vehicle had been parked across the street during Riverview’s second worship service.
Authorities acted swiftly posting a possible description of the van and posted a CODE RED notification on their social media pages in the hopes of finding toddler Trout as soon as possible.
This is a code red notification from the Giles Co Sheriffs Office. A baby boy, DOB 06/24/18 was abducted from the area of Big Stony Creek Rd in Ripplemead this afternoon. He weighs approximately 50 lbs and was wearing a gray tshirt. He has a red birth mark on the back of his neck. He is possibly with a male and female in an older model black van with an Army sticker on the back and possibly headed toward WV. Several witnesses are describing the vehicle as a dark colored SUV. Original witness described the vehicle as a dark colored van. Please be on the lookout.
Giles County Sheriff Office thanked the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Virginia State Police, Virginia ABC Enforcement, Pearisburg Police Department, and NCMEC for finding Noah Trout and will hold a press conference today at 4:30 P.M. EST to release more details surrounding the incident.
Keeping Kids Safe at Church
No one knows at this point how someone was able to abduct Noah Trout from his church nursery. Those details are sure to be revealed. To keep kids safe in your church, children’s ministry Dale Hudson shares this advice.
It is crucial to have a security system that enables you to control who picks up the children. Everyone should abide by this…that means even if the pastor came to pick up his child and he didn’t have the matching security tag, he would need to have his ID checked to see if he is on the pick-up list. Any pastor who values the safety and security of his church members and their children, will be glad to abide by this. If you don’t currently have a check-in and check-out system, I recommend my friends at KidCheck. They can help you with your safety and security needs.