When 8-year-old Nathan Kuhns saw a man trying to abduct his 4-year-old sister during a family vacation in Myrtle Beach, S.C., he just did what came naturally.

"I screamed because of the fact someone was trying to pull her in the car and I went down there and beat the crap out of this guy," the Pittsburgh-area boy told a local TV station.

South Carolina police credit Nathan's heroics Friday with rescuing his sister, Josie, who had run off while they were walking near a beach access. The suspect snatched the girl from behind and was trying to put her in his car when Nathan came running. The man fled and is still at large.

Nathan said he scratched the suspect to get some forensic evidence.

"It's called DNA and I saw it on 'NCIS' on TV," he said in an interview with KDKA.

Erin Kuhns related her son's story.

"He said, 'Mommy, I just kicked and I punched and I hit, and I just kept doing it,' " she said. The suspect "kept grabbing her, and he kept pulling her and kept trying to put her back in the car."

The family and police are hoping the DNA evidence will help catch the suspect.

KDKA has video of its interview.

(Posted by Michael Winter)