18-month-old girl found safe after suspected abduction

LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- An 18-month-old girl who was suspected of being abducted by a man near Lancaster was found safe Saturday afternoon, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.

The baby, named Penelope Rodriguez, was found by a neighbor who heard crying around 3 p.m. in a shed on Avenue T-8 and 43rd Street in Palmdale. The girl, initially reported as 13 months old, was taken to a hospital for evaluation for exposure, detectives said.

Two suspects allegedly left her in the shed for an unknown period of time, because the area is remote, detectives said.

Deputies detained 35-year-old Brandon Wynn and a juvenile companion nearby in a blue Ford Contour on 40th Street and Avenue T-8. They told authorities that they were on their way to pick up the girl to surrender her at a fire station.

Both were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and booked at the Lancaster Sheriff's Station.

An Amber Alert was issued earlier in the day for the young girl, identifying Jonathan Holmes as the person suspected of kidnapping her from a hotel room in an unincorporated part of Lancaster. Detectives later found that Holmes was not actually involved in the incident.

At the time, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lancaster Station said Holmes was suspected of sexually assaulting the girl's mother and then leaving her alone in the desert. After the suspected assault, he allegedly went back to the Motel 6, located at 407 West Palmdale Blvd., where the pair were sharing a room and abducted the woman's daughter, authorities said.

Authorities said the woman knows Holmes, but the nature of their relationship is unclear.

City News Service contributed to this report.