For Victor Perez, an unemployed construction worker, alertness paid off last week. Mr. Perez saw a news report about a girl kidnapped by someone in a red and white pickup truck Monday afternoon. When he left his home later that day, he saw a truck like the one in the news report and decided to follow it.

His improbable car chase resulted in the recovery of an 8-year-old girl abducted in Fresno, Calif. "This guy is a true action hero," said California's governor.

"I just took that chance to follow the truck and told my cousin to dial 911, while I gave chase, and just to make sure if it wasn't him," he told the CBS Morning News.

(READ the story in the CS Monitor)