Missing Mo. Girl Found at Car Wash
A 4 year-old girl who was kidnapped from her own front yard on July 5 was found yesterday, July 6, at a car wash 90 miles away. Alisa Maier was seen by witnesses wandering alone around the car wash. At first, the adults who spotted her thought she was a boy since her hair had been cut short. It was soon discovered, though, that she was the missing girl her family, friends and police had been looking for.
ABC News reports Alisa Maier and her brother were playing in their front yard when, according to her brother, a dark-skinned white man in his 30s pulled up in a car, ordered Alisa to get in and drove off with her. At this time, the police have declined to release details of the physical examination the little girl received at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.
Since no details have been released, it is difficult to say if the suspect will face charges other than kidnapping. A kidnapping charge is commonly defined under federal and state law as the taking of a person from one place to another against his or her will, or the confining of a person to a controlled space.
According to ABC, the police are searching for a dark-colored, four-door car, possibly a Ford Escort, seen leaving the area of the car wash. A dark-skinned white man in his 30s was the driver. Police believe the car either had a hole in the muffler or no muffler at all, and it was missing the hubcaps.
Alisa's grandfather, Roy Harrison, would like the kidnap suspect to turn himself in. "I want to tell that man he's done the first step -- he's let my granddaughter go," Harrison said on NBC's Today Show. "He has to step up and take responsibility."
At a Wednesday news conference, police vowed to catch the suspect. "We have dozens and dozens of leads, and some of them are very good ones," St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch said.
Related Resources:
- Police Have Good Leads on Mo. Girl's Abductor (ABC News)
- Missing Missouri Girl Found Alive at Car Wash; Abducted from Front Yard (CBS News)
- Kidnapping (FindLaw)
- Crime Victim Resources (FindLaw)
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (MissingKids.com)
- Classifications of Crime (provided by James D. Garrett & Associates, P.C.)
- Criminal Defense FAQ (provided by Moran and Heim, P.C. , LLC)