Delaware

AMBER ALERT: Dad Abducts 3-Year-Old Delaware Girl

UPDATE: 3-year-old girl found safe in Massachusetts and Amber Alert has been canceled.


A desperate mother broke down, begging for her baby's safe return during a news conference Tuesday morning, just hours after a multistate AMBER ALERT was issued for the missing Delaware girl.

"I'm just begging anybody who knows where she is or him or whoever's helping him, please bring her home," cried the girl's mother Dawn Barkus "I don't care how he does it, just bring her home."

Shortly after the AMBER ALERT was issued in Delaware, New Jersey and Ohio, the FBI was pulled into the search for 3-year-old Elinor Trotta, who was abducted by her father, 43-year-old Michael Trotta, Monday night following an alleged domestic assault.

Police responded to a home on the 800 block of East Basin Road in New Castle, Delaware around 6:45 p.m. and that's when Barkus told police Trotta, her ex-boyfriend, came to the home, assaulted her and then took their daughter.

"Mommy loves you," cried the girl's mother Dawn Barkus. "We have a routine every night and she's out of that routine and my heart is just broken."

Delaware State Police issued the alert because New Castle County Police said that Elinor is now in "imminent danger" and that Trotta may have fled with her to New Jersey — possibly heading to New York City.

Police told NBC10 they believe the girl is in danger based on several statements her father made though they wouldn't elaborate on what those statements were.

New Jersey State Police stated the severity of the situation was "extreme," and that there was an "extraordinary threat to life or property."

Ohio State Police confirmed that they were involved and that the FBI was also investigating.

Police originally said Trotta fled with Elinor in a 1989 gray Mazda 626 with Delaware plates but that car was later found near the scene in Delaware and towed away.

Later police updated the vehicle description saying that Trotta was last seen in the area of Mount Laurel, New Jersey in a bright red-colored SUV, possibly a Ford Explorer.

Elinor is described as a 3-year-old white female, weighing about 60 pounds with brown shoulder length hair. She was last seen wearing a purple puffy coat, pink pants and “Frozen” sneakers. 

Michael Trotta is described as a white male, standing 5-foot, 8-inches tall, and weighing about 160 pounds, with a balding short haircut, scruffy beard and mustache. He was last seen wearing all black clothing. 

"He is considered armed and dangerous," said New Castle County Police Chief Colonel Elmer Setting.

If you have any information on their whereabouts, please call 911 immediately. You can also call the New Castle County Police Department at 302-573-2800 or visit www.nccpd.com.

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