When Tangie Wilson’s 8-year-old daughter, Zoe, asked to use her iPad early one Sunday morning in September at their home in Bedford, Ohio, she assumed her child had settled into her room or on the couch with the device, so she went back to sleep.
She didn’t know that Zoe, who was still upset after an argument with her older sister the night before, managed to sneak out of the house with her mother’s car keys, wallet and ID around 7 a.m. The third grader then drove the family’s S.U.V. — with the family’s dog, Bear, in tow — about 10 miles to Target in an act of rebellion.
“Not even 30 minutes later, her sister came in and was like, ‘Mom, where is Zoe? She took the dog,’” Ms. Wilson, a hair stylist, said in a phone interview on Friday. “And I’m like, ‘She just asked for her iPad, what do you mean she’s not here?’”
What followed was a brief missing-persons case that involved neighbors, family members and the local police. Zoe, who was found safe at Target nearly two hours later, became an internet and media sensation, leading many to question how a child so young could get herself to the store without hurting anyone, and how she ended up with a Frappuccino at the store’s Starbucks.
Ms. Wilson said that her daughter had made a plan the night before to take the car, but that Zoe had told her she did not have a destination in mind for her adventure until she accidentally cracked the iPad while leaving the house, so she figured she would go to Target to replace the case. When she couldn’t determine what size case she needed, she shopped for toys and makeup instead.
Back at home, Ms. Wilson and her two older daughters, who are 15 and 11, began searching for the missing child and Bear, the family’s Shih Tzu/poodle mix. When they eventually went outside, they noticed the car was missing, but it didn’t immediately register that Zoe could have been the one who took it.
“She never has done any of this before,” Ms. Wilson said, “so it still was not registering that she left with the dog.”
After checking in with the family’s babysitter, who had access to the car, Ms. Wilson then called the police, who arrived shortly before 9 a.m. Neighbors also poured into the streets to help with the search, and one shared footage from a Ring security camera, which showed the child pulling out of the driveway in the car, leading to her eventual rescue.
Ms. Wilson said Zoe had no previous experience driving, beyond playing with go-karts and sitting on her father’s and her grandfather’s laps in the car when she was an infant. Ms. Wilson discussed the entire ordeal with The New York Times, including the Facebook post by the Bedford Police Department in which the department claimed to have found the child perfectly safe and having a drink at the store’s Starbucks (which, Ms. Wilson said, was most likely purchased for Zoe by the officers who found her).
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
What was Zoe’s first reaction once she was found?
She walked out of the store so normal, like nothing happened. Her response was like, “I only hit a mailbox and it was green.”
Did she really buy a Frappuccino?
That she did not do. I think the officers did it to make the story look cute because they thought it was a joke. They remained professional, but they were smirking and laughing. I think it was mind-blowing to everybody.
Was Zoe disciplined or grounded after all of this?
No, she wasn’t. I spoke to her and reassured her that I loved her and how I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her and how dangerous and big the situation was. But when we did go places moving forward, if she wanted a slushy from the store, I would tell her no as a consequence.
How was she able to drive your car?
I back my car into the driveway all the time, so all she had to do was pull out. But on my street, she has to make a left onto ongoing traffic, and to get down the other main street she was on, she had to make another left into ongoing traffic, which I feel like is a very hard task, especially for an 8-year-old. But I am thankful for my car, because it has lane sensors that make noise to notify you. And it has an automatic stop on it, so if she got too close to a car or tried to reverse and something was behind her, it would automatically stop the car.
I think that helped a little. But I think 90 percent of it was just her driving off of using go-karts and watching me drive.
Was the car a traditional key-in-ignition type, or is there a button to start it?
It’s a push to start. So, one thing about Zoe is she knows her sense of direction. The Target that she was at, she used to go to school down the street from it, so that was a regular commute for us for pretty much half her life and it’s one of the Targets that we shop at a lot.
The Police Department’s Facebook post had a cheeky tone. How did you feel about their reaction?
I don’t think it really bothered me too much in a sense. I think because with officers, things can go either one or two ways, so I was just thankful that nobody was hurt. Nothing dramatic happened from it. I think most of my concern was with Target than anybody else.
Can you elaborate on that?
Not just Target employees but their customers as well. Just the awareness of people in their own world and not paying attention. Because she was a little girl, she walked in Target by herself with her dog.
She made it all the way to checkout. And I asked her, “Did anybody say anything to you?” And she was like, “No, people just said, ‘Your dog is cute. Can I pet your dog?’” And I’m like, “So even at the register?” And she said no.
Is she taller than average for her age?
No, she’s not super tall. She’s about 4-foot-2-ish, maybe a little taller than 4-2. She looks like a kid, she acts like a kid. If anybody was to meet her, she’s the most lovable, sweet, innocent girl ever. She loves unicorns. She loves learning about history. She loves being outside. She loves animals. She gives 8-year-old girl.
What exactly do you think led to Zoe acting out?
I had a conversation with them like, “Y’all stop arguing, y’all go to separate rooms, it’s not that serious.” But it really upset Zoe more than anything, I guess. If she was explaining it, it’s more like her being the youngest and having sisters and they’re older than you and she feels like her voice is not being heard and she has to do everything they tell her to do.
How confident was she in her own driving?
Where the Target is, there was construction, and she made it through the whole construction zone without hitting any cars, which was impressive to me and everybody that’s familiar with the area. So on our way back home, there was a detour, and she was like, “I didn’t go this way, Mommy.” I was like, “Zoe, how did you turn?” And she was like, “I watched you do it.”
How were you feeling during all of this?
Actually, to be honest, I still haven’t had time to process it mentally. And I don’t think I had been home for 10 minutes before it came across my phone that it made the news. Then it was all over social media and my phone was blowing up from everybody. So for me it was very stressful, very exhausting — mentally, physically, emotionally. I could not sleep because it all started with her leaving the house when I was asleep. It was like someone snatched the rug from under my feet. And it was just all these questions — everybody wanted to know who this little girl was and how did she do it.
Has it been awkward for her at school given her newfound fame?
Afterward, it was hard because my oldest plays a lot of sports and we go to most of her games and it’s high school, so of course all the kids are on social media. And they know who Zoe is. So for me, that was a lot of stress, because normally I feel comfortable if they go to the concession stand or to the bathroom, but now I have to be on them. I don’t want people taking pictures of them, and the kids were like, “I need to take a picture with the Target girl.”
I’m really glad she’s safe. How is she doing after all of this?
Well, the week after that, she was upset about going to school. She was like, “I’m worried because we’re doing multiplication, and multiplication is hard.” And I’m like, “Zoe, did you know how to drive a car before you drove the car the other day?” And she was like, “No.” And I was like, “OK, so just like that with multiplication, you don’t know how to do it but you’re going to learn.” So that has encouraged her a lot as far as her schoolwork.
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