Missing one-year-old boy found safe after being kidnapped in stolen SUV

The child had been reported missing 39 hours before he was found

The Clarkston police have found the missing one-year-old boy who was kidnapped from a stolen SUV on Wednesday morning in Georgia.

Blaise Barnett was found alive outside a house in Clarkston around 2.30pm on Thursday and reunited with his family. Soon after, Blaise was taken to a hospital for a medical check-up, but reports said he appeared to be unharmed.

Clarkston Police sergeant Dustin Bulcher said the child was in “good condition” when he was finally found 39 hours after he was reported missing.

“He’s safe now. He’s home. That’s all I wanted,” the boy’s mother, Deonna Bray, told Channel 2 Action.

The child was found by a woman in a car outside her home on Thursday. The woman was confused but took the child inside and immediately called 911.

The FBI was interviewing her on Thursday afternoon, and police said that they did not yet know who put the child in that car in the first place.

On Wednesday, around 1am​, the child’s parents had called the police and informed them that their 2002 Ford Explorer, with Blaise in it, was stolen from outside their apartment on Montreal Road.

Ms Bray said the family was unloading groceries at their home when the SUV was stolen. She said the car was not running when she went inside her house for just 30 seconds. But when she returned, the car had been stolen.

A few hours later, though the vehicle was found, the child was still missing.

Police said that the SUV was found on Wednesday near the Brannon Hills condos on Memorial College Avenue, which is about 2.5km from the child’s home.

Meanwhile, the local community in Clarkston was relieved that the baby was found.

Talitha Mowrey, a neighbour, told the media: “I’m just excited. I can’t stop crying. We’ve all been looking and praying that this baby was all right. Thank God. Really, the Lord had his hand in this. I’m so relieved. I can’t wait for the baby to get back home to mama.”

“I’m not chastising the parents. I know they’ve been sick, as we all have‚ but you cannot leave your keys in the car for a second... that’s just the world we live in now,” Ms Mowrey added. “So I hope everybody takes heed to that. But I wanted to be clear, I’m happy and delighted for the parents that the baby is back.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Clarkston Police said: “Our entire department breathes a collective sigh of relief with our community knowing Blaise is safe and now reunited with his family. Our entire department thanks to our community, media outlets that spread the word, and the local and state law enforcement agencies that assisted us with locating Blaise.”