A state-wide Amber Alert has been issued for an 18-month old Dallas toddler after he was allegedly snatched out of his bed in the middle of the night, NBC 5 reported.
The boy, Cedrick “C.J.” Jackson, was last seen at 11 p.m. on Tuesday evening while staying at his aunt’s apartment.
On Wednesday, Dallas Police tweeted out about the missing child and dubbed the case a “critical missing child abduction.”
In the police hand-out , they explain that they received a call about the missing child at 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
“The missing child, Cedric Jackson, had recently been placed in the temporary custody of an aunt at the call location,” the report reads.
According to police, C.J.’s aunt said she put the toddler down to sleep after 11 p.m. and discovered him missing the following morning at around 6 a.m.
“A juvenile witness, who lives at the location, described someone who looked like a relative as having taken Cedrick,” the report reads.
Detectives apprehended the man who was spotted at the scene, 47-year-old Harold Johnson, but he did not have the boy. He was arrested on unrelated warrants and is being held in Keller, Texas.
A regional Amber Alert was issued at 12:15 p.m. but was upgraded to a statewide alert by 10 p.m. that night.
Detectives continue to search the neighborhood where Cedric was allegedly taken and have said the toddler is in danger, but haven’t said why.
The juvenile witness who claims to have spotted the man who abducted Cedric describes him as being a black male, approximately 5’10, and about 190 lbs.
Major Max Geron, acting commander over Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Dallas Police Department, said the identity of the abductor is still unknown.
“I will tell you at this point, we don’t know if that suspect is the person in custody in Keller or if we’re looking for a separate suspect that happens to match that description,” he said on Wednesday night.
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Geron also said police are concerned about the danger of the heat and humidity in Dallas.
According to Dallas News , C.J.’s mother, Dishundra Thomas, has suspicions about the aunt’s story.
“It just baffles me that a child can get taken in the middle of the night without anybody hearing anything, a child that was sleeping next to you in your bed,” she said.
Anyone with information regarding the abduction or who thinks they may have seen the toddler is encouraged to contact the Dallas Police Department’s youth operations division immediately at 214-671-4268.
h/t: NBC 5