(WWJ-MEMPHIS) A Pontiac family already facing a childhood cancer diagnosis confronted another nightmare while their 3-year-old daughter was out of state to receive chemotherapy.
Samaria Becerra rode twelve hours with her father and mother from Michigan to Memphis for treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, one of the most renowned pediatric cancer hospitals in the country.
Memphis Police said the family was getting gas around 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Samaria stayed inside the running car with the keys in the ignition while her mother went into the building to pay for the gas.
A man leapt into the family car and took off with Samaria inside, police said.
WDIV-Channel 4 reports a friend of the family was parked nearby and looking after the little girl while her mother went inside, but the suspect pulled up between the two cars—the kidnapping happening in a matter of seconds.
In an incident report, Memphis Police described Samaria as: “wearing a…shirt with Minnie Mouse on it, blue leggings and a white corded necklace with a wooden cross.”
After an extensive search, police located Samaria in the family’s Nissan Rogue parked outside an apartment about an hour and a half later.
She was scared but unharmed, police told WDIV.
Four suspects, all teenagers, have been taken into custody.
The family left Memphis on Friday to return home, with Samaria with them.