What to Know
- Hours after an Amber Alert was issued a 7-month-old girl was found safe.
- The girl went missing with her father from Vineland, New Jersey, late Wednesday night.
- The girl was found safe Thursday morning, Pennsylvania State Police tweeted. He father was later charged with several counts.
A 7-month-old girl was found safe after an Amber Alert was issued in New Jersey for the child and her father, who police said she was last seen with and who was later charged with several counts.
The father-daughter duo went missing from Vineland on Wednesday night, New Jersey State Police said early Thursday. The Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office later revealed that the child was taken by her father, Ramon Rivera Jr., from near the Chick-fil-A at the Cumberland Mall.
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Alerts were sent to cellphones first in New Jersey and then Pennsylvania. Around 7:30 a.m., Pennsylvania State Police announced the girl had been found safe and the Amber Alert was canceled.
Prosecutors in a news release explained the circumstances leading up to the Amber Alert:
"Through investigation, City of Vineland detectives were able to contact Rivera and verify that the child was in his custody. After attempts to have Rivera voluntarily return to the City of Vineland with the child were unsuccessful, an Amber alert was issued."
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U.S. Marshals from the Philadelphia Field Office found the child after stopping a car mentioned in the Amber alert at the base of the Commodore Barry Bridge on the New Jersey side, law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation said. Other people were also in the car at the time.
"Rivera was taken into custody (and the child recovered safely) in Logan Township with the assistance of the United States Marshal’s Office and the New Jersey State Police Missing Person’s Unit," prosecutors wrote.
Rivera was charged with simple assault, child endangerment, harassment and weapons charges. Prosecutors said he could still face more charges on the state level.
It wasn't clear if Rivera had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
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