Chapter 799: Continued Pursuit
The captain of the traffic police brigade in the High-tech Zone is named Chen Gang.
He is very familiar with Lu Chuan, and since Lu Chuan took office as the captain of the High-tech Zone Criminal Investigation Team, they’ve collaborated multiple times.
They also often meet at division meetings and have had meals together a few times privately.
"Captain Lu, we’ve found the car you were looking for!"
In the reception room on the first floor of the traffic police brigade, Chen Gang personally came to meet Lu Chuan.
"Captain Chen, thank you!"
"It’s no trouble at all. The cameras near Construction Road are high-definition cameras installed on steel frames last year, so finding the surveillance footage you need isn’t difficult."
Chen Gang took Lu Chuan to the surveillance hall.
"What’s going on, is there a case?"
Lu Chuan nodded, feeling no need to hide this from Chen Gang.
"A child went missing in Beidou Village this morning. It’s now certain the child was abducted by this car."
On the way, Lu Chuan carefully reviewed the entire process after the incident occurred.
First, it could be confirmed from a video taken by a tenant opposite Chen Jiawang’s house that the other party had scouted the village before.
That’s how they were able to park the car directly in front of Chen Jiawang’s house and take the child when they found him inside.
Unfortunately, the suspect’s face did not appear in the surveillance footage.
And the suspicious tenant’s surveillance camera was installed only three days ago.
Lu Chuan has instructed someone to extract all the footage inside and view it frame by frame. Since they pre-scouted the area, they can’t have taken all three days off, so there might be some footage showing the suspects.
If any facial features can be captured, it would make things a lot easier.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the surveillance hall, where a staff member had already set up a computer for Lu Chuan to view the relevant surveillance footage.
"After we discovered this car, we tagged it. However, because it had no license plate number, we had to check it camera-by-camera."
Speaking of querying surveillance footage by traffic police, Chen Gang clearly had more experience in this area.
"After leaving Beidou Village, the car should have headed west, which is towards the city center. We caught sight of this car at camera No. 82 as it entered the city."
"According to the current investigation, the vehicle continued along Construction Road for about 3 kilometers and was captured by camera No. 98 for speeding."
"However, when reviewing camera No. 99, there was no trace of this car."
As Chen Gang was saying this, he looked at the staff member beside him.
"Qu, bring up a road map from camera No. 98 to camera No. 99 on Construction Road and project it onto the big screen."
"Yes, Captain!"
Chen Gang led Lu Chuan to the front of the big screen.
"Captain Lu, this is the map between camera No. 98 and camera No. 99 on Construction Road."
"The distance in between is about 1.5 kilometers."
"There are three intersections on the left and two on the right of the road."
"Since there are no barriers on Construction Road, the car could have turned left or right."
"Our staff is currently reviewing the surveillance footage from these five intersections."
"We have to wait a little longer..."
"Captain Chen! We’ve found it!"
At that moment, a seated staff member immediately reported.
Chen Gang’s expression lightened up, "Captain Lu, we’ve found it!"
Having worked in this position for ten years, Chen Gang was very familiar with the road network in Haizhou City High-tech Zone.
As more surveillance cameras have been installed and frequently updated over the years, the Criminal Investigation Team often requires the assistance of traffic police in cases.
Therefore, Chen Gang gained considerable expertise in investigating vehicles or individuals through the traffic police surveillance system.
Concerning the vehicle, the issue arises if it continues to travel along main roads rather than small ones.
Because if it stays on main roads, it can be tracked, but on smaller roads, it’s different.
Based on Chen Gang’s years of experience, he judged that the suspects driving on smaller roads imply two scenarios.
Firstly, if someone is pursuing them, they take smaller roads to avoid police pursuit.
Secondly, if no one is pursuing them, taking smaller roads means they are close to their destination.
For this child abduction case, taking smaller roads is certainly for the latter reason.
"Report, Captain, the vehicle was spotted in the surveillance footage on North Fifth Lane of Construction Road."
The staff operated the computer screen displaying exactly the footage of the unlicensed van passing by.
The angle of the camera was excellent, directly facing the driver’s face under sunlight.
This time, the suspect was unmasked.
"Good!"
They managed to capture the suspect’s facial features.
Now, most traffic cameras are high-definition, allowing zoom-ins fine enough to reveal things like skin pores.
"Captain Chen, which way does this road lead?"
Chen Gang glanced at the big screen.
"Exiting from North Fifth Lane of Construction Road takes you north, crossing over... to the old railway station!"
The railway station?
Damn!
They escaped!
That was Lu Chuan’s first thought.
The suspects knew very well that after abducting the child, the parents would likely call the police immediately.
Even driving an unlicensed van, they could potentially be tracked by police.
Therefore, right after snatching the child, they head to the old railway station, intending to escape by train.
These are very experienced traffickers.
Most people mistakenly believe that it’s harder to get caught when traveling by car.
But that’s not the case.
As Chen Gang’s team just illustrated, traffic police investigations tracked the route of this white van.
Even without the license plate, as long as you catch one lead, staying persistent will unravel the mess.
However, once the perpetrators abandon the vehicle and use public transport, things become different.
With larger crowds on trains compared to planes, it becomes easier for suspects to hide.
Plus, trains have numerous stops, making it hard for police to determine where the suspects disembarked.
They might have only faked a stop at the railway station.
Knowing that police would track them, once they reach the railway station, the authorities might follow the lead, while the suspects could simply sell the child nearby upon exiting.
It’s also possible they stopped at Tianzhou City, the next station after Haizhou City’s railway station, or any intermediary stop.
"Captain Chen, if you could continue, see if you can find the white van in the old railway station’s nearby surveillance."
"I’ll lead a team to head straight to the old railway station now."
"I hope we’re not too late."