Associated Press
SPRING LAKE, N.J. — A 6-year-old girl whose family left New York after the terrorist attacks was found safe at a mall Friday, a day after she was abducted while playing in her front yard in New Jersey.
Anna Cardelfe was dropped off about 10 miles from her home, apparently after the kidnapper heeded a tearful plea for her return from the girl’s father, authorities said. Security workers recognized her and called police. She was reunited with her family and brought home.
"They were hugging their child, and their child was hugging them," prosecutor Robert Honecker said. The scene "brought tears to the eyes of veteran detectives."
Honecker said Anna was in good spirits and unharmed. He would not elaborate on what the girl told authorities.
Police continued to hunt for the girl’s kidnapper. They released a sketch of a suspect and were investigating whether more than one person was involved.
The girl had been playing with a sibling and friends around noon Thursday when a man in a short-brimmed hat and dark sunglasses enticed her into a car by showing her some kind of object, Honecker said. The man then pulled the girl inside and drove off. A 4-year-old friend described the kidnapper to authorities as a man in his 30s.
A man called police from a pay phone an hour later and directed them to a ransom note, taped to a flagpole. The kidnapper called again, asking if police had received the note.
Honecker said no ransom was paid.
On Thursday night, Anna’s father, Michael Cardelfe, pleaded at a news conference: "We want Anna back safely and will do whatever it takes to get Anna back to us. We know you do not want to hurt Anna."
Honecker said he believes the plea "was heeded by the individuals responsible for this abduction, and may in fact have led to her release."
Cardelfe, who has four children, formerly used the New Jersey house on weekends. The family moved there full time after the attack on the World Trade Center near their home in lower Manhattan.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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