JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Jackson Township Police Department held a news conference Saturday afternoon to provide updates on an Amber Alert that was issued yesterday regarding a 5-year-old girl who was taken from Ohio and found in Illinois.
A statewide Amber Alert was issued Friday afternoon for the girl, who authorities said was abducted by a 36-year-old man who was an acquaintance of the family.
According to police, the girl had permission from her mother to be with the man and another woman Thursday. According to investigators, the three of them were at a Goodwill store in Canton. The man took the girl to another business to use the bathroom, but then he and the girl got into a vehicle and drove away.
The girl was supposed to be returned to her home in Massillon, but that didn't happen, and police were unable to locate her or the man involved.
Police told News 5 that the man is a family acquaintance who had permission to be with the girl but not for that long. Police believed they were together, and they didn't have reason to believe he would harm her, but since she was still missing the next day, she was listed as endangered.
Jackson Township police originally put out an Endangered Missing Child Alert Friday morning. An Amber Alert was issued Friday at about 2:15 p.m. Later that evening, Jackson Township police obtained arrest warrants for the man.
Later that night, McLean County Sheriff's Department deputies in Illinois found a suspicious vehicle parked in the 1200 block of North Road near Stanford. Stanford police officers arrived on scene and authorities ran the license plate where it was discovered the vehicle was connected to the Amber Alert and kidnapping.
Authorities found the man asleep in the driver's seat. The child was located in the rear passenger area, according to the McLean County Sheriff's Department. The girl was transported to a nearby hospital for a medical evaluation.
The man was arrested on the active warrants for kidnapping, a first-degree felony and abduction, a third degree felony. He was booked into a jail in Illinois and will be brought back to Ohio to face charges from the incident.
The matter remains under investigation.
RELATED: 5-year-old Stark Co. girl believed to be with a 36-year-old man found safe in Illinois
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