A 3-year-old Arizona girl who was allegedly kidnapped by a “random woman” her parents allowed to stay over their home was found safe Sunday morning thanks to a group of movers who spotted the suspect at a gas station and blocked her car.
“I know many of these men and their character, and our core values and giving back to the community, and I was really proud to listen to the dashcam conversation of them … and deciding to get involved and take action,” Chad Olsen, president of Camelback Moving, told CBS affiliate KFMB-TV.
The 3-year-old, Kehlani Rogers, was reported missing Saturday morning from Avondale, Arizona. She was allegedly last seen with Marina Noriega, identified at the time as “Merena,” according to an Amber Alert issued by the Avondale Police Department.
Kehlani’s parents told police that their daughter was taken by Noriega, who they described as a “random woman” they allowed into their home because she “needed a place to stay,” according to court records reviewed by NBC affiliate KPNX-TV.
When they woke up Saturday, the parents discovered both Noriega and their child were gone.
One tipster who claimed to have driven a woman and child matching their description told police they drove them to Maricopa, adding that the woman said she was planning to take a train to California, according to the outlet.
Kehlani and Noriega were eventually spotted at a QuikTrip gas station by the moving company’s employees who received the Amber Alert on their phones, Olsen told KFMB-TV.
“Like most moving companies and trades workers, before they hit their job, they stop and get coffee, doughnuts, energy drinks,” Olsen told the outlet. “We had eight gentlemen there, three trucks, and the security guard that we were familiar with at the QT notified us that he thought that the Amber Alert suspect had just walked in with the child.”
Avondale AZ Police Department
Ralph Vollmert, a mover who was at the gas station, told KTAR News that his colleague Kevin Place heard the security guard talking on the phone, and “came up to the driver door of the truck and was like, ‘Hey, the child’s in that truck.’”
That’s when Olsen’s employees made the quick decision to block the car Noriega was believed to have been driving.
Dashcam footage shared by Local 12 News captured the intense moment. One mover can be heard asking, “Should I block the truck? What? Should I block them?” before another responded, “You should block them.”
Kehlani was found safe, and Noriega was taken into custody. The suspect is facing a felony charge of custody interference, according to AZfamily.
Court records reviewed by the outlet alleged that Noriega told police during her interview that she was Kehlani’s biological mother and that she was born in Sacramento but abducted from the hospital. She eventually acknowledged Kehlani was not her daughter and would apologize to the family for taking her.
“I shouldn’t have took advantage of the situation and done what I did. You’re right, that’s my fault,” Noriega allegedly told police.
