A two-year-old boy is safe this morning after Louisiana authorities say he was kidnapped from a rest area off Interstate 55 in Tangipahoa Parish, and authorities say the alleged kidnapper is now in custody.
Louisiana State Police issued an Amber Alert for Christopher Cooper just after midnight Wednesday morning, some two hours after authorities say James Mercier abducted him.
According to Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's deputies, Cooper and his mother were riding in an SUV with Mercier when he pulled off I-55 South into the rest area near Kentwood. Investigators say when Cooper's mother got out of the vehicle, Mercier drove away with the baby boy.
Authorities canceled the Amber Alert around 6 a.m. after they found Cooper alive and well. Police say he was sleeping inside the SUV, which Mercier had abandoned in a Kentwood-area parking lot.
Tangipahoa Parish deputies said they arrested Mercier later in the morning. He's been booked into jail on an aggravated kidnapping charge.