Houston mom calls FedEx driver 'a literal angel' after he reunited her with sons after carjacking

Briana Conner Image
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
FedEx driver recalls finding young carjacking victims
As the search continues for the a suspect who took a woman's car with her kids inside, she's thanking the FedEx driver who helped reunite them.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston police are still looking for an unidentified man accused of stealing a woman's car with her two young children inside.

Eyewitness News first reported on this last week after learning a FedEx driver spotted the little boys along his route and helped reunite them with their mom.

SEE ALSO: Good Samaritans rush to help Houston mother after carjacker takes off with her car and 2 kids

The driver said he knew something wasn't right on Jan. 30, when he saw a little boy carrying a baby down the street in the Willow Meadows neighborhood. They looked cold and were all alone.

"He was just saying that he got dropped off from his car and left on the ground," Hector Zarate explained what happened.

Those words came from a 6-year-old boy who had just been kidnapped from the Murphy Express on South Post Oak Road. His mother was getting ready to fill up when Houston police said a man stole her car with her sons in the backseat. The thief threw the kids out right in front of a house where Zarate happened to be making a delivery.

"The little boy gets closer to my truck, asking for help. He was like, 'Can you please help me? My mom's car got stolen by the bad guy,'" Zarate recalled.

Zarate said he didn't think twice about stopping his delivery work to pick up precious cargo.

"It just clicked with me, seeing him carrying his brother. That just gave me my instincts. I was like, 'No. This is not right. I need to take them some place safe, and I need to help them.'"

Zarate took the boys around the corner to Trafton Academy, where they called police. He stayed there until their mom arrived. She didn't get the chance to talk to him that day, but her gratitude came through clearly over the phone now.

"You were a literal angel," she said, "I don't know what else to say but thank you."

To which Zarate answered, "No worries. That's actually all I need. Like I said, I'm glad I was there to help both of them."

The mother said she's avoided the area since the kidnapping, but she still wanted Eyewitness News to coordinate a call so she could let Zarate know he may be the neighborhood's FedEx driver, but he's also her family's guardian angel.

"It was just very heartwarming that they actually thanked me. I'm glad I was there, as well, for them," he said.

Anyone with information about the Jan. 30 kidnapping and auto theft is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

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