PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police say a 6-year-old girl, who was abducted Tuesday night when the car she was waiting in was stolen, has been found unharmed. She had been missing for about 12 hours.
Shortly after state police issued an Amber Alert on Wednesday morning, police found her near the 35th police district headquarters. The car in which she was abducted, a burgundy 2007 Toyota Scion, in was found in a Checkers parking lot at Broad Street and Nedro Avenue.
Police say she was sitting in the back seat of that car, parked outside of a pizza shop in the 5600 block of Greene Street when it was taken around 9 p.m. Tuesday. Her mother had left the car running and unlocked while she went inside to get food, and when she came out, the car and the girl were gone, according to the police report
"We believe that this car was stolen as an opportunity because the engine was running. The door was unlocked," Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "The individual who stole the car may not have known there was a 6-year-old child."
Police interviewed the mother and the store employees, and there were officers stationed at other family members' homes around the city, in case the girl were to end up at any of those places.
Under Pennsylvania law, it is illegal to leave a child under 6 years old in a car if it is out of view. No charges have been announced.
There have been questions about why it took Philadelphia police more than 8 hours to issue the Amber Alert.
Deputy Commissioner Ben Naish said there was confusion about some of the circumstances:
"We are continuing to look into why the extensive delay that occurred did occur. It appears at this point that it likely should have gone out earlier, but I can tell you this, regardless of the Amber Alert, which might have gone out as early as 11 p.m. or 12 midnight, there was continuous communication being relayed on our police radio," said Naish.
"As the vehicle was located on the street, it is looking like at this point that it may have been there in a place that was not easily viewable to the public eye. We don't think the Amber would have necessarily made a significant difference, but we were out there looking for that car. Fortunately, it was found."
