By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com
The Fresno police chief said finding a kidnapped 8-year-old Fresno girl this morning was the highlight of his career.
Elisa Cardenas was the subject of a statewide Amber alert all night as law enforcement searched for the little girl until she was found safe this morning. The California Highway Patrol confirmed that Elisa's suspected kidnapper was also taken into custody.
The young girl was abducted Monday night in central Fresno. She was with a group of six other girls at the time of her kidnapping.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer told the Fresno Bee that a good Samaritan helped in rescuing Elisa.
Dyer said the girl bolted from the kidnapper's pickup truck this morning after the pickup was cut off and stopped by a driver who had recognized the truck from media reports. Dyer said the good Samaritan had followed the pickup, then cut it off after he saw the little girl's head pop up in a window.
The pickup truck was later seen by the CHP. The suspect was taken into custody in the parking lot of an apartment complex at Ninth Street and Saginaw Avenue in Fresno. Dyer said the suspect, who offered no resistance, was positively identified by a witness to the abduction.
Elisa was taken to Community Regional Medical Center and was in good condition, Dyer said.
"I gotta tell ya," Dyer said, "it was a highlight of my career to see Elisa and her mom reunite in that hospital room."
In a televised press conference before Elisa was found, Dyer recounted her kidnapping. He said a man grabbed the little girl, pushed her into the driver's side of his pickup truck and sped off with the vehicle's headlights off.
Dyer said that just before the abduction, police received a call from the public about a man who exposed himself to two girls a few blocks away from where Elisa was kidnapped. The suspect and vehicle in the indecent exposure case matched that of the man who kidnapped Elisa.
Overnight, police conducted a methodical search of the neighborhood and checked motels, bus depots, train stations, schools and parks.
Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079. The Fresno Bee contributed to this report.
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