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Police search for suspect in child abduction

Posted at 3:25 PM, May 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-24 13:05:53-04

Cleveland Police, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are asking for the public's help to identify a man who they say abducted a six-year-old girl from her home on West 104th Street on Saturday. She was later found in good condition. 

Family said they realized the girl was missing from her home in the 3000 block of West 104th Street around 9 a.m. Saturday but she was not reported missing to police until about 3 p.m. She was last seen around 4 a.m. that day.

Police gave no description other than that he is a white male. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said the girl rang the door bell of a random home on Lyric Avenue near West 140th Street after someone appeared to have dropped her off around 9:30 p.m.

“It’s scary," said Carol Hanna, a resident of W. 104th St. "You wonder if that child is okay, who had their hands in all of this, why wasn’t that child closely watched if you will. She is six, it’s not like she is 16.”

Police said the child was taken from a downstairs area of her home. There were no signs of forced entry. Even though she was last seen at 4 a.m. on Saturday, her grandmother, who lives with her, did not report her missing until 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Cleveland police used K9 units, zone cars and a chopper to search for her on Saturday. A Cleveland FBI spokesperson said the agency also assisted. FBI agents canvassed her neighborhood Monday afternoon interviewing residents.

“They asked if I had seen any strange people around here," said Hanna regarding her conversation with the FBI. "They didn’t specify race or sex.”

Hanna said she often sees strange people and unknown cars in her neighborhood but did not notice anything out of the ordinary Friday night or Saturday morning.

The Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services is investigating this case.

The girl was in stable condition at a local hospital Monday afternoon.

“We’re all concerned," Hanna added. "More or less, our backs are to each other, and we’re watching out for our kids.”

Anyone with information regarding the incident or the identity of the suspect is asked to call 216-622-6842.