Man Sought in Girl's Kidnapping Shoots Self

Kidnapper cut tot's hair
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 8, 2010 3:14 AM CDT
Man Sought in Girl's Kidnapping Shoots Self
A welcome home sign adorns the lawn outside 4 year-old Alisa Maier's home in Louisiana, Missouri.   (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

A man sought in the kidnapping of a 4-year-old Missouri girl shot himself during a confrontation with police who tracked his car to a home. Police did not identify him, nor reveal his condition. Alisa Maier was grabbed from the front lawn of her home where she was playing with her 5-year-old brother, and was found some 24 hours later wandering near a car wash nearly 80 miles from her home. Her hair had been cut short, making her look like a little boy. "From best I could tell, she's in good shape," St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch told reporters.

"We were up all night just thinking about this," said a neighbor of the Maier's family in a St. Louis suburb. "This is kind of town where you don't have lock your doors. You know everybody. The kids play outside all the time." Alisa's reunion with her mom at a local hospital was a "very moving scene," a hospital spokeswoman told ABC News. The girl was sitting in her mother's lap in the emergency room and her mother had her arms wrapped around Alisa like she was never going to let her go again." (More kidnapping stories.)

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