MARYSVILLE – Rick Evans thought the van seemed out of place.
The silver minivan, parked early Thursday on a strip of grass outside the Marysville foundry where Evans works, reminded him of an Amber Alert bulletin he saw along a freeway sign during his morning commute.
His suspicions were confirmed when he and a couple co-workers read about the stolen van in The Herald. They checked the vehicle’s license plate with the information printed in the paper.
“It was like reading the winning lottery ticket,” co-worker Jeff Sevey said. “We started reading the numbers, and I thought, ‘This is it.’”
A nightlong ordeal for Jessica Sobania, 23, of Marysville, ended about 5 a.m. Thursday when the machinists found her two children, uninjured. They were still inside her minivan. The vehicle had been carjacked by a man outside a Smokey Point drug store about eight hours earlier.
The workers called police, who brought Abigail Sobania, 4, and Caleb Sobania, 2, into the foundry’s conference room. Abigail was hungry, and Caleb had a full diaper, Evans said.
The men fed them milk, Cheerios, granola bars and fruit cups from their packed lunches.
“Everyone was elated when we saw the kids come out, and they were smiling, happy and healthy,” Evans said.
Soon after, the children were reunited with their mother behind closed doors at the Arlington Police Department. Jessica Sobania spent the night there with family, keeping tabs on the investigation.
The children’s father, a sailor stationed on the USS Shoup, was expected to rejoin his family Thursday, Naval Station Everett spokesman Rick Huling said. The Shoup is involved in exercises off the coast of California.
Jessica Sobania declined to speak with a reporter Thursday.
No arrests have been made. Arlington Police Chief John Gray said he hopes the man who took the van and the children turns himself in.
“I’m thankful that our offender didn’t harm those children, and that’s a good thing,” Gray said. “It’s bad what he did, but that’s a good thing.”
Detectives are sorting through several possible leads and are hopeful for an arrest, Gray said.
“What makes this crime stick in our minds is all the evidence points to a completely random event. There’s nothing she could have done,” Gray said.
Police plan to interview the children, and examine video surveillance footage from businesses near the site of the carjacking. A sketch of the man, based on Jessica Sobania’s description, has been released.
The suspect is described as white, in his 30s, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with a shaved head and a slight goatee. He was wearing a navy blue or black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.
“We have a lot of great information, which we now have to work with,” Gray said.
Jessica Sobania told police she was loading her children into her van about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday outside Rite Aid in the 17200 block of Smokey Point Boulevard. A man came up behind her, said he had a knife and told her to do what he said, or else, Gray said.The mother told police she was forced to drive the minivan to north Marysville.
At one point, the man said he wanted to drive. By then Jessica Sobania said she was outside the van. She told police there was a struggle, and the man drove the van away with her children still inside, Gray said.
The woman ran to a nearby home and called 911. The Washington State Patrol issued an Amber Alert.
The alert did its job, trooper Kirk Rudeen said.
“It shows how important the public is in what we do, and how we need and rely on the public for help in a lot of things that we do,” Rudeen said. “They’re the eyes and the ears out there.”
Heather King, who lives next door to the Sobania family, didn’t realize it was her neighbor’s children who had been taken.
“I’m shocked. I heard this morning that the kids had been found. I didn’t realize it was Abby and Caleb,” King said. “Thank goodness they’re OK.”
Mandie Nicholas saw the police cars outside the family’s townhouse Wednesday night and watched the search unfold on television. She didn’t realize the kidnapped children lived across the street.
“I heard it on the news and it hit close to home. I have kids and we go to that store all the time,” Nicholas said. “It’s so hard to imagine that happening. It’s extremely scary.”
Gray said Jessica Sobania did everything she could to protect her children.
“This mom did an incredible job, balancing her survival with being an excellent mother,” he said.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
