Kidnapping suspect faces more charges, bus driver describes what she saw

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The man accused of kidnapping a 6-year-old girl last week is facing more charges for violating probation.

Another witness has also come forward about what  she saw that day.

Through tears, Crystal McGirt started describing what started as a normal day driving her New Hanover County Schools bus.

“I was proceeding down River Road as any other day finishing up my run,” McGirt said.

That is when she noticed something a little off.

“A moped pulled out in front of me,” McGirt said.

Then, McGirt said the man pulled over to let her pass.

“It was as if he was hovered,” McGirt said. “As I looked, it looked like a child was in between him. I didn’t think anything of it.”

Later that night, she said she heard about a child abduction. As she got to work the next morning, she asked her supervisor if the child had been found.

“She said no,” McGirt said. “Last they saw, he was on a moped, so kind of at that moment, it hit me. I saw him yesterday day.”

McGirt said she called police.

“Detectives got me to escort them to the location and shortly after she was found,” McGirt said.

While Douglas Edwards,46, now sits in jail charged with kidnapping, indecent liberties with a minor, and violating probation, McGirt is resting easy.

“I’m just glad she was alive,” McGirt said. “That she was found alive.”

Because as a mother and a bus driver of 17 years she feels like she did her civic duty.

“I just get a little emotional still talking about it,” McGirt said. “I’m just thankful she’s home with her family. Going through a mother’s mind not having their child, I just broke me down.”

Edwards just got out of prison on April 30 for larceny and selling opiates. He was arrested by the Carolina Beach Police Department in 2014 for those charges.

According to parole records, a probation officer charged Edwards Friday for violating the conditions of his probation for “committing a crime in any jurisdiction.”

We are still waiting to get the search warrant from his arrest last week.