 |
|
A photo of Amber Nicklas, who was abducted in Norwalk,
California in 2003. A girl believed to be Amber has been
found alive in Phoenix, Arizona |
A girl who was kidnapped when she was a toddler has been discovered
alive and well nearly seven years later.
In a case that will give hope to the parents of
Madeleine
McCann, the victim was found hundreds of miles away from her
hometown in California.
Amber Nicklas
disappeared without trace after being abducted from a Los Angeles
restaurant in 2003 when she was just thirteen months old.
The tot's disappearance shares parallels with
Jaycee Lee Dugard,
the girl kidnapped in 1992 when she was eleven and held captive for
eighteen years before she was rescued a year ago.
Like Jaycee, Amber's name had been changed by her captors. They also
faked her date of birth and kept her out of school to avoid raising
suspicion.
She was finally tracked down to a psychic's house in Phoenix, Arizona -
371 miles from Los Angeles - on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said a woman tried to hide the girl under a pile of towels in the
bathroom shower as they searched the house under a court order.
At first, she tried to claim she adopted the girl, but couldn't provide
any paperwork to prove their story.
 |
|
A view of the city of Phoenix, Arizona, where the girl
believed to be Amber Nicklas was found after being missing
for seven years |
'The child seemed well cared for. She appeared well-nourished. The child
was very happy,' said Captain Patrick Maxwell, of the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department.
'This wasn't like the Jaycee Dugard situation. Apart from being kept out
of school she lived a semi-normal life.
'She wasn't locked in a bedroom or anything like that. She called these
people mum and dad,' he added.
Amber was snatched when her foster parents took her for a court-arranged
meeting with her mother at a Chuck E. Cheese children's restaurant.
Two of the girl's aunts distracted the foster mother while a third aunt,
aged just 13, ran off with the child. Although police later arrested two
of the aunts, the third escaped with the baby.
Amber had been forcibly removed from her grandmother's care along with
several other children. Her mother had already given up all rights to
her.
Captain Maxwell said police were still trying to determine exactly how
the child came to be living in Arizona with a couple who are not related
to her.
But he said he doesn't expect the girl's mother to come looking for her.
'It's horrible,' he said. 'It breaks my heart.'
He added that the parents who raised the girl would not be charged
unless it was found that they had something to do with Amber's
kidnapping.
Detectives received information last November suggesting the girl was
living in Arizona. Footprints, photographs and DNA swabs were taken to
confirm her identity
 |
 |
|
Echoes: The case will give hope to the parents of Madeleine
McCann, left, who has been missing since 2007. Jaycee Lee
Dugard, right, was kidnapped in 1992 and rescued 18 years
later, in August of last year |
Amber was returned to California today where she was in the care of
Child Protective Services.
Madeleine McCann was three-years-old when she went missing while on
holiday with her family in Portugal's Argave in May, 2007. Her parents,
Kate and
Gerry, have sworn they will not stop searching for her.
Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was held hostage by a convicted sex predator for
18 years, is now rebuilding her life with her two daughters in northern
California.
Her captor, Phillip Garrido, is awaiting trial on kidnapping, rape and
false imprisonment charges. |
