GARDEN GROVE (CNS) - A woman suspected of abducting her 3-year-old daughter during an unauthorized visit in Garden Grove was in custody this morning and the daughter was back with her family after the issuance of an Amber Alert.
The Amber Alert was issued at 6 p.m. Friday for Josephine Lujan and her 39-year-old mother Christine Lujan. It was deactivated at 7:11 p.m.
The girl was taken at about 1:50 p.m. during a visit with her mother at her grandmother's Garden Grove home in the 13000 block of Roberta Circle, according to Garden Grove police.
“When grandma went inside her house (and) came back out, she found Christine (and Josephine) gone,” the Garden Grove Police Department tweeted.
The grandmother had legal custody of the child and there was a restraining order preventing Christine Lujan from having any contact with Josephine, Garden Grove police Sgt. M. Martinez said.
The Amber Alert brought quick results, Martinez said.
Shortly after the Amber Alert was issued, the “California Highway Patrol received several phone calls from citizens that spotted the vehicle” on Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County, Martinez said.
The CHP stopped the vehicle southbound on the Interstate 15, north of Kenwood Avenue, Martinez said. The child was safe and unharmed and the mother was arrested on suspicion of child abduction.
“I'm glad she's safe,” Josephine's uncle, Manuel Lujan, told NBC4. “Thank you everyone who helped.”