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California police, FBI search for baby abducted by stranger

California authorities and the FBI are searching for a 3-month-old baby who was reported to have been taken from his San Francisco Bay Area home by a stranger

Via AP news wire
Tuesday 26 April 2022 17:18 BST

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California authorities and the FBI searched Tuesday for a 3-month-old baby who was taken from his San Francisco Bay Area home by a stranger, police said.

The man entered a San Jose apartment around 1 p.m. Monday and walked away with little Brandon Cuellar in a baby carrier, police said.

“We are actively working leads,” the San Jose Police Department tweeted early Tuesday. “We know there is a need for information, but we also need to maintain the integrity of this investigation. The number one unwavering goal is to get baby Brandon home.”

Police released a video showing the man walking down the sidewalk holding the baby carrier covered by a white blanket.

“The family does not recognize this suspect,” police tweeted.

Sgt. Christian Camarillo told reporters Monday that the kidnapping was reported by the baby's grandmother.

“According to the grandmother, she came home to this apartment.... She took the baby in the apartment, went downstairs to unload some groceries," Camarillo said. "In that short amount of time someone entered the apartment ... and left with the baby.”

Brandon was last seen wearing a white long-sleeved onesie with dinosaurs.

Camarillo said the baby's mother was at work when the abduction happened.

“Dad right now is out of the picture. He is incarcerated. I don't know, you know, whether that is going to play into this, but obviously we are going to talk to him soon,” Camarillo said.

He said it is hard to make out the man who took the baby because he was wearing a mask.

“We need the public's help right now in San Jose to find this baby. Today someone is walking around with a 3-month-old baby that they did not have yesterday,” he said.

The FBI dispatched its child abduction response team to help San Jose police, he said.

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