SEATTLE — Seattle police have arrested a 48-year-old woman after she allegedly kidnapped a 1 and 1/2 year old girl in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood.
An Amber Alert was issued for the young girl, who is 22 months old. Police say she was abducted from her daycare, the MARS Early-Learning Academy, on Friday afternoon around 2:30 p.m.
Police say the suspect drove off with the child in a gray sports car, but was tracked down by multiple law enforcement agencies and found at the intersection of Pacific Highway South and South 324th Street in Federal Way by 5:45 p.m.
“Police coordinated a massive rescue effort with multiple police law-enforcement agencies here in South Seattle, including Guardian One helicopter,” said Detective Eric Muñoz, PIO with the Seattle Police Department.
Seattle police say the suspect, identified by the Washington State Patrol (WSP) as 47-year-old Quiana Marks, tried to run away but was arrested by Federal Way police.
“I’ve been on these child abduction calls before. Every minute matters because every minute that goes by, anything can happen,” Muñoz added.
The child was safely returned to her family at the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) South Precinct.
“She was reunited with her family. She was safe, she was unarmed. She’s going to be okay,” said Muñoz.
Marks was taken to the Federal Way police station before SPD took custody of her. Police say she will be booked into the King County Jail after detectives interview her.
While the circumstances leading up to the kidnapping are under investigation by detectives, WSP shared that Marks was known to the mother of the child and allegedly has a history of threats/violence towards the child’s family.
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