Active gang member who kidnapped baby from girlfriend remains at large; child later found unharmed
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The search is continuing Sunday for a man accused of kidnapping his girlfriend's 11-month-old son, who was later found unharmed, authorities said.
Adonis Childress, 30, reportedly took the boy, Jeremiah Montgomery, at about 10 a.m. Saturday in West Hills, according to the California Highway Patrol, which issued an alert seeking the baby's safe return.
The baby was found Saturday night, but Childress remains at large, Los Angeles police said.
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The kidnapping was preceded by events that started around 8 a.m. Saturday, when Childress and the baby's mother got into a verbal dispute that grew into a physical attack in which Childress choked her and punched her multiple times, breaking her nose and causing her to lose consciousness, police alleged.
Childress dropped the injured woman off at a hospital at 10 a.m. in the 7300 block of Medical Center Drive in West Hills, and drove off with the baby, the woman's cell phone and her car, police said.
The woman and her family repeatedly called Childress to ask him to return the child but he refused, authorities said.
No details were released about how and where the baby was located.
Los Angeles police said Childress was in a dating relationship with the baby's mother, but he is not the biological father.
He is an active gang member and is considered armed and dangerous, CHP investigators said.
Childress is described as a Black man standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 195 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white tank top, blue shorts, and white socks with black sandals.
Anyone with information on Childress' whereabouts was asked to call the Los Angeles Police Department's Topanga Division at 818-756-4800. Anonymous tips can be submitted to LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
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