SUV of missing mother and daughter found
An Amber Alert was activated yesterday evening for a 9-year-old Bucks County girl who was kidnapped with her mother, authorities said.
Police have found the SUV of a woman who called 911 saying she was in the trunk of a car and that she and her 9-year-old daughter had been abducted following an accident yesterday in Bucks County.
But Bonnie Sweeten and her daughter Julia Rakoczy remain missing.
A police officer found Sweeten's Yukon Denali was found about 1:30 a.m. today at 15th and Chestnut Streets in Center City, two blocks from the cell phone tower that picked up Sweeten's calls. police said. A parking ticket was on the windshield.
Police also impounded a black Cadillac in Hunting Park with damage to its front end, but the FBI indicated this morning that it was not linked to the case.
Investigators are examining Sweeten's SUV for possible clues.
"There are a lot of leads we are following," Special Agent J.J. Klaver, an FBI spokesman, said this morning.
Earlier, police activated an Amber Alert for the child.
Sweeten, 38, called police from the trunk of the dark-colored 1990s Cadillac shortly before 2 p.m. to report she had been abducted along with her daughter by two unknown black males, Klaver said yesterday.
Sweeten told a 911 operator that her daughter was still in her family vehicle, a silver 2005 GMC Yukon Denali with Pennsylvania license GYK-8998, Klaver said.
When local police arrived at the accident scene, both vehicles were gone, Klaver said.
Philadelphia police got the 911 call, which was received through a cell-phone tower at 12th and Walnut Streets in Center City, Klaver said.
WPVI-TV (Ch. 6) reported this morning that Sweeten made seven calls to 911.
The mother and daughter were taken after they were involved in a minor accident with the Cadillac on Street Road in Upper Southampton Township, about a mile north of the city, Klaver said.
Julia was described in the Amber Alert as 4 feet, 1 inch tall, 59 pounds, with long brown hair, blue eyes, and a dime-sized birthmark on her forehead. Her mother was described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 130 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information about the kidnapping was urged to call 911.
Julia attends Belmont Hills Elementary School in Bensalem. A parent of another child there said that Sweeten had been very active at the school. The parent, who asked not to be identified, said news of the kidnapping broke before a student performance at the school last night.
"The word spread quickly and no one knew what to say," the parent said. "Everyone is shocked. We just pray they come back home safely and we can see them once again in the school she so generously shares her time with."
Sweeten is married with three daughters, according to her Facebook page. She listed herself as a 1989 Bensalem High School graduate. Court records show that she and Julia's father divorced in May, 2003.
Paige Alexandra, 15, wrote on her Facebook page: "im asking everyone, to please pray for my mom and sister pray please."
Inquirer staff writer Allison Steele contributed to this article.