MACON, Ga. — Usually, when you go to a rest area stop, you're there to take a break, walk the dog, or use the restroom, but a Valdosta family got more than a break.
On Friday, April 21, Hayley and Brett Hester and their two children were going to a Braves game. They decided to switch drivers at rest area 19 in West Macon on Interstate 475 and go to the bathroom.
Hayley and her 8-year-old daughter Adalyn went to the bathroom. When they walked in, they saw two girls in there and one of them had a laptop with them at the counter.
Not thinking much about it, Hayley and Adalyn went into the stalls next to each other. Adalyn came out of the stall first and the two girls pulled on Adalyn's hair and covered her mouth.
"I think she froze in that moment just being terrified, so she did not scream out or call for me," Hayley Hester said.
The mother came out of the stall, not realizing what had happened, and they tried to leave the bathroom, but the two girls did it again.
"And this time she did yell out for me, so I was able to pull her out of the bathroom," Hester said.
According to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, the two girls are both 12 years old. They were at the rest stop with their mother who told deputies they were kicked out of their hotel and had nowhere to go.
Major Brad Wolfe with Bibb County Sheriff's Office says they do patrol the rest stops but not regularly, and there are no cameras around the building. With summer vacations coming up and more travelers on the interstates, he says to always be alert.
"Be aware of your surroundings -- if something doesn't look right, it's probably not. If somebody looks suspicious, you might not want to go up to the area they're at or whatever, and to stay in groups if you can," Wolfe said.
We reached out to the Georgia Department of Transportation and they told us their responsibility is "solely to the maintenance of the facilities."
Brett Hester called 911 and asked the girls why they did it. In the video they sent 13WMAZ, the two girls are trying to run away and deny any wrongdoing. He says he just wants to bring awareness to the issue his daughter went through and to always keep a close eye on your surroundings.
After deputies arrived and detained them, the two girls were charged with simple battery. The Hester family plans to make some changes when they are at a rest stop, but they needed to keep their minds off the situation.
"We kind of got back in the car, and right now, we kind of look at each other, and we're like, 'Well, do we still go? We were over halfway there, basically. At that point, I asked the kids and they were like, 'Yeah,' they wanted to go." Hayley Hester said.