An Amber Alert issued Wednesday for a 2-year-old girl reportedly abducted by her mother in Garden Grove has been canceled after the toddler was found safe, authorities said.
The California Highway Patrol issued the Amber Alert at around 2:11 p.m. after the girl was abducted at 11:16 a.m. during a visit with her mother that was supervised by a social worker. Garden Grove police later said the girl is a ward of the state.
Garden Grove PD said that a man walked up and pepper sprayed the social worker before he and the girl’s mother took off with the child. Another man was waiting in a nearby vehicle and drove both suspects and the toddler away.
Police announced around 4 p.m. that the toddler had been found safe with her mother and the man who pepper sprayed the social worker at a bus station in Palm Springs.
The toddler’s mother, 21-year-old Ileane Shelton, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping. The man who pepper sprayed the social worker was arrested as well, but his connection to the toddler and her mother is unclear. The third suspect was outstanding.
City News Service contributed to this report.