911 tape details motorist's call in manhunt
Caller led police to suspect with help of Amber Alert information
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One of the girls who had been abducted stands on a car talking to a police officer.
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(CNN) -- Hours after Georgia's version of the Amber Alert went out in the abduction of three children, a motorist thought he recognized the kidnapping suspect's vehicle Thursday night on Interstate 75 and dialed 911 on his cell phone, authorities said.
On Friday, the Whitfield County, Georgia, Sheriff's Department released the tape of that call, which eventually led to the suspect's capture and the girls' safety.
"I need to know the Amber Alert license plate number," the caller asked the emergency dispatcher at the sheriff's office in Dalton, Georgia, 24 miles northwest of Ranger, Georgia, the scene of the abduction.
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The hunt for a man suspected of killing four people and abducting three girls ends in a wreck.
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In the Gordon County town, police said Jerry William Jones, 31, abducted two daughters and their half sister after killing his three in-laws and one of his daughters.
The dispatcher read out the number -- Georgia plate 730 YFV -- and asked the man, who apparently was a passenger in a car driven by a woman, if he had seen the vehicle.
"Just one second," he said and paused. Moments later, he spoke again. "Yeah, that's it," he said. "We're right behind it."
He verified that the vehicle he was trailing was a red 1991 Ford Explorer and told the dispatcher he'd just passed mile marker 330 near Dalton. "There's a gentleman [in the vehicle], and I think there's a couple of kids," he said.
Brittney Phelps, 10; Brandy Jones, 4; and Tammy Jones, 3; had a brief reunion Friday with their mother, Melissa Peeler, after the harrowing kidnapping ordeal.
On Wednesday, police said Jones shot Peeler's mother, father and sister and strangled his 10-month-old daughter. Peeler is Jones' estranged common-law wife.
Jones then phoned Peeler, who was visiting friends on the West Coast, according to police. He told her about the killings and warned her he would hurt the surviving girls if she called police, the authorities said.
Gordon County Sheriff Jerry Davis said deputies went to one of the victims' homes after Peeler notified his office Wednesday afternoon about Jones' phone call. Deputies saw nothing amiss, Davis said. But after a second call from Peeler, they found the bodies and launched a frantic search for the girls.
The sheriff said deputies were unable to issue an Amber Alert until shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday because they didn't know what kind of vehicle Jones was driving. (Full story)
Little emotion until police's arrival
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An Amber Alert was issued Thursday morning.
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The conversations on the released 911 tape went on in a dispassionate and calm tone.
"Are you still with the vehicle?" the dispatcher asked the caller.
"Yes," the caller said. "We're going to follow it. He just screamed at one of the kids."
Finally, the dispatcher reported that officers were on the way and asked the man to stay on the phone until the police had them in sight. Passing mile marker 338, the lead officer said he could not find them, and the dispatcher asked the caller to turn on hazard flashers.
The caller then saw the officer. "OK, he's got us," the caller said.
"Yes, awesome," the dispatcher said, the first indication of emotion during the entire conversation.
"I'm coming up behind him," an officer reported.
Jerry William Jones, 31, is accused of kidnapping two daughters, their half sister and killing three in-laws.
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For several more minutes, the radio broadcasts crackled with conversation between officers and the dispatcher, heavily sprinkled with police jargon.
Twice, the caller asked if police wanted his car to pull over, and twice the dispatcher asked him to hold on a moment.
When the dispatcher finally returned to the caller, he reported seeing six or seven police cars. When the dispatcher asked for the caller's phone number and name in case authorities needed to call him again, the line went dead.
Minutes later, Georgia police chased Jones into Tennessee and bumped his car on the first exit ramp. He spun and crashed into a pole, police said. He then shot himself in the chin before officers could reach the car, police said.
Jones is in critical condition at a Chattanooga, Tennessee, hospital but is expected to survive.
The three girls were rescued safely.
