‘Kidnapped’ Baby Found Alive, Missing Vehicle Likely Rolled into Nearby Kudzu
A missing infant believed to have been kidnapped was found safe Tuesday morning in overgrowth near the residence from outside which she vanished.
The 9-month-old, Harlow Darby Freeman, was found after a 12-hour manhunt involving roughly 100 law enforcement officers from the Parrish, Alabama Police Department, the Walker County Sheriff's Office, nearby departments and many state and federal agencies.
Police have said the infant was left in the back of her father's Lexus RX-350 on Crest Avenue Monday night in Parrish, a town of less than 1,000 people about 50 miles north of Tuscaloosa.
When he stepped out of a nearby residence where he had reportedly visited a friend, the car was nowhere to be found, and police believed they were dealing with a stolen vehicle and kidnapping. An AMBER Alert was issued and police searched through the night - but AL.com reports that the Lexus was found Tuesday morning a few hundred yards away, in thick kudzu.
The daylight discovery will leave many questions to be answered about the situation, but the Walker County Sheriff's Office summarized it best on Facebook by saying the end result was a good one.
The infant was reportedly dehydrated but otherwise healthy when she was found a few minutes before 9 a.m. Tuesday.
No criminal charges have been filed as yet.
For more details on this case as they develop, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.