Kidnapped Girl Found Alive 15 Miles From Home
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A happy ending in California this morning, a kidnapped 9-year-old girl found alive. Jennette Tamayo walks into a convenience store. It happened about five hours ago. She was crying, she was scared, but she was alive. Let's get to our Thelma Gutierrez. She's live in San Jose for more on this. Thelma -- where is she now?</s>THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question, Carol. We've heard many things. We've been told that she may be in the care of the hospital workers, who are trying to check her out to see what her condition is. Police have not confirmed that for us at the moment, so we can't tell you exactly where she is right now, nor can we tell you whether or not she has been reunited with her parents at this point. We can say, though, that East Palo Alto police told us that she was found wandering outside a market shortly before 11:00 p.m. Pacific Time last night. And police would only say the girl is safe. They would not elaborate on her condition. She was found about a half-hour north of her San Jose home. The shopkeeper recognized her from media reports, and then called police.</s>ISA YASIN, STORE OWNER: As she was walking in, she was crying, scared. And I asked her, 'How can I help you?' She said, "Please don't call the cops, please don't call the cops." I said, 'OK, I promise you I won't call the cops. Let me help you.' She said, "Let me use the phone." I said, 'OK, here's the phone.' And she started dialing the phone, she was panicking, scared, she didn't know how to dial the numbers. I said, 'Let me get the phone and let me dial the number for you.' And so, I dialed the number after that. The number was in the San Jose area. I asked her, 'How long have you been missing?' She said, "One day." I asked again, 'How long have you been missing?' She said, "Three days." I asked her, 'How old are you?' She said, "9." So, right away I figured out she's the one missing from San Jose.</s>GUTIERREZ: Jennette Tamayo's ordeal began on Friday. Some of it was caught on the neighbor's security camera. She was apparently walking home from school with a friend, and police say the kidnapper was waiting in his car outside of her home for her to return. The man then followed the girl inside. He backed his car into the garage. When her mother and her brother returned home, they fought to save her, but the suspect then sped away with Jennette inside the car. Now, police do say that that surveillance tape may have had something to do with her safe return. Now, as for the suspect, we understand that he is still at-large. He got away in a four-door sedan. Now, police say that they will make a statement at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and perhaps we'll have some more of the questions, where is she now, where the suspect is, and perhaps even a description of that man as well. Carol -- back to you.</s>COSTELLO: When we look at Jennette, she seems OK. Do we have any word on her condition, though?</s>GUTIERREZ: No, we sure don't, not at this point, Carol. Perhaps we'll get some more of that information at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. But as the shopkeeper said, I mean, she was able to walk in, she was able to speak with him. Police would only say that she was safe, but wouldn't elaborate beyond that.</s>COSTELLO: All right, Thelma Gutierrez live from California this morning, many thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.