Arrest Made After Child Spotted in Car Trunk in Gwinnett County

An arrest has been made in connection with a concerning social media video depicting a child in the trunk of a grey passenger car.

Last Sunday, February 25, an officer from the West Precinct received a report from a concerned woman regarding a video she had seen on social media. The video showed a child inside the trunk of a Dodge passenger car while it was in motion on a roadway. Although the video mentioned “Gwinnett County,” the exact location and time of the incident were unclear. Additionally, there appeared to be a large object alongside the child in the trunk, and the vehicle bore an out-of-state license plate.

Following up on this report, on Monday, February 26, a detective from the Special Victims Unit used FLOCK technology to locate the same vehicle in the vicinity of Pleasant Hill Road and Shackleford Road in unincorporated Duluth on February 25. Images confirmed the presence of the child in the car’s trunk.

The detective was able to identify the registered owner of the vehicle and visited her home in Duluth on February 27. It was determined that the item in the trunk was a recently purchased baby bassinet from an online marketplace advertisement. The child, a 12-year-old boy, was seated in the trunk to help secure the item in place.

Diana Denise Shaffer, 36, of Duluth, was arrested and charged with Reckless Conduct and a Seat Belt Violation on February 27 at 6:38 p.m. She was then booked into the Gwinnett County Jail. Her son was temporarily entrusted to a family member’s care until Diana’s release from jail earlier this morning.