A young California girl who had been missing for nearly 7 years was found in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday by police. Amber Rose Nicklas was abducted in September 2003, shortly after she turned a year old.
“[Amber] had been in the care of foster parents in Norwalk, California, when she was snatched by three of her aunts,“ a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Norwalk Station told CNN.
Two of the aunts involved in Ambers abduction were captured at the time of the kidnapping. The third was able to elude police, getting away with the child, reports sheriff’s spokesperson, Bill Evans.
The girl eventually ended up with a family who had no relation to her biological family.
CNN continues that, “authorities got a tip that Amber could be at a home in Phoenix and went there with a court order Wednesday afternoon.”
Investigators found the child wearing a shower cap, hidden beneath a pile of clothes and towels when they arrived at the Phoenix home to serve the court order.
Ambers name and birth date had been changed, say police, in an attempt to hide her true identity. Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump added that “Amber’s real identity was confirmed through footprints, photographs and DNA swabs.”
The child was in good physical condition, but was frightened by the events of the day. Amber is in state custody and prosecutors will be pressing charges in her case.
