A 5-year-old girl who was abducted from New York by her 32-year-old mother, who does not have custody of the child, is safe Saturday after being found in San Diego.
The girl’s mother, Renee Stong, was checking into a Motel 6 near downtown San Diego, at 1546 Second Ave., at 8:54 p.m. Friday when police were notified, said San Diego Police Officer Robert Heims.
Stong was arrested at the scene, Heims said. The girl was found unharmed.
Police did not believe that Stong had any ties to San Diego.
The child was believed to have been abducted from Rochester, New York, according to NBC7.
The Rochester Police Department said Stong picked up her daughter from school Wednesday, taking her off of a school bus around 4 p.m., according to NBC affiliate WHEC News 10 reported.
When the girl didn’t come home from school, her family called the police and Rochester police identified Stong as a possible suspect in the girl’s disappearance.
The girl’s family told WHEC News 10 that Stong took the child in an Uber to the Greater Rochester International Airport where she bought plane tickets and left the state with the girl, flying to Detroit and then San Diego Thursday morning.
Police said an Amber Alert was not immediately issued in this case, as investigators did not believe the girl was at risk of injury or death.
Stong will be taken to the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility to await a possible extradition, NBC7 reported.
— City News Service
