Hours after an Amber Alert was issued when a 13-month-old girl was allegedly abducted after her mother was sexually assaulted in the Antelope Valley, the alert was canceled when officials located the girl and arrested a 35-year-old man and a boy, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Lancaster station.
Department officials said. (Credit: Google Maps)
The Sheriff’s Department initially said the mother was staying at a Motel 6 in Palmdale, located at 407 West Palmdale Blvd. (map), with 38-year-old Jonathan Holmes and her 13-month-old daughter when he allegedly kidnapped the woman around 3 a.m.
Detectives later determined Holmes was not involved in the incident, according to a news release issued Saturday evening.
The woman was allegedly sexually assaulted and taken to an area near 230th Street East and Avenue J (map) in Lake Los Angeles, Sheriff’s Lt. Joseph Fender said.
The woman was assaulted in the desert and was able to make her way to a location where residents rescue horses, a sheriff’s deputy at the scene said. The mother was naked; officials searched the area for her clothing.
Life Savers Wild Horse Rescue, which provides a “sanctuary” for abused and neglected horses, according to its website, was located near the intersection provided by sheriff’s officials.
The woman’s daughter, identified as Penelope Rodriguez in the Amber Alert, was believed to have been left at the motel initially but later kidnapped.
The mother reported between 6:30 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. from the Lake Los Angeles area that she had been assaulted and her daughter kidnapped. Fender said officials were working to determine why the crimes had not been reported sooner.
Investigators later identified another man as a person of interest in the abduction and received a description of the car he was known to be driving, the news release said. The vehicle was described as a blue Ford Contour.
Deputies from the sheriff’s Palmdale station found the car and its occupants near T-8 and Avenue 43 East about 2:50 p.m. Brandon Wynn, 35, and a male juvenile were taken into custody, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies obtained information that led them to a shed in the nearby area of T-8 and Avenue 43 East, where they found the 13-month old girl alone, the statement said. It was unknown how long she had been inside the structure.
Paramedics responded to the scene and transported the infant, who was suffering from exposure, to a hospital. Her condition was described as not life-threatening.
Wynn and the boy were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and booked at the sheriff’s Lancaster station, authorities said. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are anticipated.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department at 661-948-8466.
