An Amber Alert was issued Thursday morning after a 4-year-old girl was abducted from a stolen car in Rock Island, Illinois. Police say the child's mother left her vehicle running briefly when someone stole the car with the child still inside. The vehicle was later found abandoned, but the little girl was missing.
CHICAGO (CBS) — An Amber Alert was issued after a vehicle was stolen with a 4-year-old girl in the back seat in Rock Island on Thursday morning. Just after 6 a.m., Illinois State Police said a vehicle was stolen near the intersection of 14th 1/2 Street and 13th Avenue, with 4-year-old Blessing J. Aoci in a car seat in the back seat of her mother's car. Rock Island Police Chief Timothy McCloud said Blessing's mother had left the car running while she went inside her home when the car was stolen.
'I would caution everybody to not point fingers at the mother in this case,' McCloud said. 'This happened in seconds, and that's what we try to tell people, that you can take one child and put them in the car, and then go back to the house to get another child, and in the meantime that car's gone. It is that fast.' Police said the vehicle was found almost 20 minutes later in the area of 9th Street and 14th Avenue, but Blessing was not in the car, and there were no car seats inside. Blessing is approximately 3 feet tall and 50 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink jacket, pink boots, and blue pants. She has black hair with twists and brown eyes. McCloud said police were going door-to-door in the area between where the car was stolen and where it was found abandoned, hoping someone might have seen Blessing. He said police are hoping she might have gotten away and taken shelter in a nearby house. 'We're hoping that there are people, even anonymously, that can give us the information about where that child was taken out of the car, or where that child is right now. Our hope is that she's safe inside a house nearby in the neighborhoods,' McCloud said. McCloud said multiple vehicles were stolen overnight in the Quad Cities area near Rock Island, along the Iowa state line, and police do not believe Blessing was kidnapped intentionally. 'We obviously aren't going to rule anything out, and are looking at all possibilities, but at this time, with the number of stolen vehicles that happened overnight, we believe that this was probably inadvertent that the child happened to be in the back seat of the car at the time,' he said. Among the vehicles that were stolen overnight that have not yet been recovered were: A gray Nissan Rogue, with Virginia license plate UEV4867, which was stolen from Davenport, Iowa, around 5 a.m. A black Kia Sportage stolen from Rock Island around midnight, last seen going into Davenport around 3:40 a.m. A white Dodge Dart, with Illinois license plate EG92693, which was stolen out of Rock Island, and last seen in nearby East Moline around 1:15 a.m. Police have been using as many as four drones able to search for heat signatures to help with search efforts. Investigators also have recovered footage from some Ring doorbell cameras and other home surveillance cameras in the area in hopes of finding footage of Blessing. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or to contact Rock Island police at 309-732-2677
AMBER ALERT ABDUCTION MISSING CHILD ROCK ISLAND ILLINOIS STOLEN CAR
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Amber Alert Issued for Missing 14-Year-Old Girl in InglewoodA 14-year-old girl, Nevaeh Holden, was reported missing after being allegedly abducted in Inglewood, California. An Amber Alert was issued, requesting assistance in locating the victim and the suspect, 59-year-old Edward Mason.
Read more »
Amber Alert Impersonation Scam Warning Issued by California Highway PatrolScammers posing as Amber Alert representatives are targeting California residents with a new scam, urging them to provide personal information for nonexistent child registration procedures.
Read more »
Mother of missing Katy teen calls disappearance 'torture'An AMBER Alert was issued for Alexa Jones on Dec. 19.
Read more »
Child abduction suspect arrested in Portland after police issue Amber AlertAuthorities arrested a man in Portland who is accused of abducting his own two children from the Olympia area.
Read more »
Silver Alert issued for 81-year-old man with dementia in need of medicationThe Texas Center for the Missing has issued a Silver Alert for an 81-year-old man with medical conditions.
Read more »
CLEAR Alert issued for missing 62-year-old man, BCSO saysA CLEAR Alert was issued by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Friday for a 62-year-old man who they said could be in possible danger.
Read more »