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Columbus father speaks of horror after 1-year-old daughter was kidnapped in stolen vehicle

Police said car and child were found about 20 minutes after the vehicle was stolen.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — “God is really on our side, today,” the father of 1-year-old DeDe said. “We thank God for this.”

Words from a grateful father.

“It was mind-boggling,” he said. “I couldn’t control myself. I was just thinking ‘They’re gonna kill my baby’.”

The man did not want his name or face to be used for fear of it happening again. He was at work, Tuesday morning, when his wife had just placed their 1-year-old daughter in their running vehicle, which was parked in the garage with the door up. She then turned back to the house to grab her 4-year-old to put on his shoes and put him in the car.

“By the time [she] pick up the second child, the guy run from the street,” the father said.

The garage security camera caught the moment showing a person get out of a vehicle on Strimple Avenue, run up the driveway and into the man’s garage. 

Seconds later, the person backs up and drives away with that 1-year-old girl in the backseat. Another camera shows the child’s mother running out her front door after them.

“I want him to know they need to stop doing this,” the man said of the thieves. “This is not right.”

According to police the car and child were found about 20 minutes later near Greenwich Street and Pauline Avenue.

“I was very, very, very, very happy,” the father said. “I couldn’t work. I had to stop working and come straight home.”

The father says his daughter, DeDe, is now home and well.

“Yes, I am very lucky,” he said. “All the sacrifice we did paid off. All the sacrifice, all the people we help, it paid off today. Because without God this wouldn’t be possible today.”

Police believe the suspect is a teenager and left the scene in a gray Honda Accord.

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