Phoenix Girl Rescued From Abductor

Natalie Flores found 'alive and well' as cops chase down truck
By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 26, 2009 6:00 AM CST
Phoenix Girl Rescued From Abductor
This undated picture made available via KTVK-TV shows Natalie Flores.

Phoenix police celebrated what they called a "Christmas miracle" when a 5-year-old girl abducted by a man as she played outside her home yesterday was rescued hours later, after police chased down the suspect's pickup. Natalie Flores was located around 9 pm after a patrol officer spotted the truck of the man accused of kidnapping her. The pickup sped off and the officer gave chase and alerted the force.

Other officers put spike strips across the road several blocks away that punctured the suspect's tires and caused him to lose control and crash. The man took off through the neighborhood on foot but was chased down by officers and arrested. Natalie had been playing in a common area at the apartment complex with her two sisters, ages 7 and 9, when a man parked his brown pickup in a nearby parking lot and walked over to them carrying a camera, police said. "He physically grabbed the girl and forcibly took a photo of her." The man then forced Natalie into the truck and drove away.

(More Natalie Flores stories.)

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