VALDOSTA — The non-custodial parent of a child walked onto campus at Westside Elementary School in Valdosta and took his child.

Friday afternoon, the parent, Michael Ray McCormick, 33 of Biloxi, Mississippi, and an accomplice, David Scott Stapp, 36 of Biloxi, walked on to the property at Westside and took McCormick’s 5-year old son from the playground.

An alert teach saw the incident and rushed to stop the kidnapping.  The two suspects then pushed the teacher down and left the grounds with the child.

The teacher then notified the School Resource Officer, a Lowndes County Sheriff’s Deputy, as well as taking down the license plate of the suspects’ vehicle.

A Be on the Lookout (BOLO) alert was broadcast to all law enforcement agencies who took steps to find the vehicle and the child.  Just 10 minutes later a deputy traveling on the Madison Highway saw the vehicle near the Valdosta Regional Airport.

The deputies, with back up, initiated a traffic and the child was safely recovered from the vehicle without incident.  McCormick and Stapp were also arrested.

Further investigation determined McCormick, the non-custodial parent, had flown with Stapp from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, rented a vehicle at the airport, and pursued their plans to kidnap the child.

Both suspects are now being held in the Lowndes County Jail on kidnapping and assault charges.

Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine lauded his team’s efforts and those of the assisting agencies, especially the work of the teacher and School Resource Officer.