Riverside Police To Provide More Details In Weekend Kidnapping

A 9-year-old girl abducted from her Riverside home and later dumped out of a car remained hospitalized today with serious injuries, while investigators continued to seek leads in the case.

Riverside police planned a news briefing tomorrow morning at 10 to provide additional details about the abduction, which occurred late Saturday night at an apartment complex in the area of Pike Street and Herman Drive.

The girl, whose identity was not released, was asleep with her two siblings when she was forcibly taken, according to Sgt. Wayne Ramaekers.

The suspect accessed the apartment through an unlocked window, he said. The children’s mother — a single parent — was at work at the time. The victim’s older brother was supposed to be watching her, Ramaekers said.

He said the other two youngsters were not harmed during the kidnapping.

The sergeant would not disclose what happened to the 9-year-old or the nature of her injuries. She was never reported missing.

People living on Giles Court, adjacent to the La Sierra University campus — roughly 2.5 miles from where the abduction occurred — were awakened when the child began knocking on doors, asking for help, according to Ramaekers.

The disoriented girl told officers she had been carried out of her residence by a man, apparently a stranger. She said she was later pushed out of a car, Ramaekers said.

“We got brief statements from her,” he told City News Service.

The girl is undergoing treatment in the pediatric ward of Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Anyone with information about the crime was urged to call Detective Robert Hopewell at (951) 353-7124.