Fresno, CA - An 8-year-old girl who was abducted while playing
outside a Fresno home escaped from her captor Tuesday morning after a
driver recognized the suspect’s vehicle and cut it off, police said.
Elisa Cardenas was found in Fresno about 11 hours after she
disappeared around 8:30 p.m. Monday, triggering a statewide Amber
Alert. The suspect — identified as Gregorio Gonzalez, 24, of Fresno —
was later arrested.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the driver was following a truck
that matched the description of the abductor’s vehicle. The driver
recognized the truck from media reports that showed surveillance video
of the vehicle.
When the driver saw Elisa’s head in the window, he cut the truck off and Elisa bolted, Dyer said.
She was taken to Community Regional Medical Center and was in good
condition, although Dyer described her as “frightened, traumatized.”
“I’ve got to tell you, it was the highlight of my career seeing
Elisa and her mom unite in that hospital room,” Dyer said. “Because we
beat the odds today because in many cases, we don’t find the child
alive.”
The truck was later spotted by authorities, who had received a tip
about its whereabouts, and Gonzalez was arrested in the parking lot of
an apartment complex, police said.
Authorities said Elisa was playing with six other girls when the
suspect — a stranger — approached them and managed to lure her into his
pickup. Two adults who saw what was happening shouted for the girls to
run away. But the man grabbed Elisa and drove away, as witnesses chased
the vehicle, police said.
Fresno police said Gonzalez fits the description of a man who had exposed himself to two girls earlier in the day.
More than 130 officers were called in to help with the search and went door-to-door over a 3-mile area.
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