A three-year-old girl was rescued from four kidnappers who snatched her from her father’s car, police said.
Madeline Mejia was reunited with her family on Monday hours after authorities issued an Amber Alert for her in Apopka, Florida.
Her father, Lester Mejia, said Madeline was taken after he left her in his car in his driveway as he ran inside the house for his keys.
He said he heard his daughter scream while he was in his house, prompting him to run outside where he saw a black Honda driving away with Madeline.
Lester Mejia followed the car to Interstate 75, but had to go back home after he realized he did not have his cellphone, according to WFTV.
‘It was my anguish not knowing what was happening to my daughter,’ he said.
Police used a plane to track down the vehicle after Lester described it to authorities and gave them its license plate number.
The car was found five hours later near Tallahassee, Florida and police arrested the four people inside.
Two of them have since been identified as Kevin Olmeda-Velis, 19, and 18-year-old Tania Fortin-Duarte. The other two suspects, who were both identified as men, were not named.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement shared a harrowing picture of Madaline’s rescue, which shows her clutching an officer on the highway.
According to Lieutenant Kim Montes, Madeline ‘was scared’ by the ordeal, which she described as ‘very traumatic.’
‘I’m happy for my baby coming back,’ Lester Mejia said, adding that he did not know who would take his daughter, or why.
‘Obviously he didn’t think this was the morning someone was going to grab Madeline, We don’t all think about that,’ Police Chief Michael McKinley said.
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