Boy found safe after Amber Alert issued when parent's car stolen in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Within an hour of an Amber Alert being issued, a child who was abducted in Long Beach was found safe, authorities said.
The alert was issued Tuesday just after 7 p.m. after police say a parent left a 2021 Honda Accord running and unattended in the area of 1st Street and Linden Avenue while making a delivery. The vehicle was stolen with 4-year-old Justin Chan inside.
By around 8 p.m., authorities had located the vehicle with the child inside in Long Beach on Pine Avenue. Paramedics were being called to the scene to evaluate the child but there was no immediate indication that he had been harmed.
AIR7 HD footage showed a man believed to be the boy's father embracing him at the scene of the recovered vehicle.
Two women from Orange County who happened to be in the area when they got the Amber Alert decided to take it upon themselves to spend some time looking for the car.
Reagan Dunn says she and her friend Yenny Lu spotted the stolen car and called 911 after deciding on a whim to go driving around in search of the vehicle.
"We got an Amber Alert on our phone and we decided to start looking," Dunn told Eyewitness News.
"We started driving around, it was 10 minutes. Our route ended, and we decided to keep looking."
"She was driving and I glanced over. I was like, Wait I just saw a gray Honda Accord, and I saw 8XP, which was the license plate. She turned around and we parked over there. I called 911. We ran across the street and the license plate matched up."
They stuck around until officers arrived. They say they saw the boy in the back of the car. He appeared confused and scared but otherwise unharmed.
"I think he knew he was safe."
Authorities are still looking for the suspect who stole the car with the child inside.
