Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies Tuesday called the safe return of a missing child a great example of an Amber Alert success story.
Deputy Robert Jensen, spokesman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, indicated that station officials were notified about the presence of an alleged child-stealing suspect from the Amber Alert center in Sacramento.
The California Highway Patrol, which runs the Amber Alert system, notified the SCV Sheriff’s Station about a tip that Michael Ryan Abbott, a 42-year-old Ridgecrest man, was seen with a 7-year-old boy who had been reported missing.
The alert was originally sent out by the Ridgecrest Police Department, in the boy’s hometown. Law enforcement officials did not state what, if any, the relationship between the boy and the suspect was.
The pair were reportedly seen at Six Flags Magic Mountain by a witness who saw the Amber Alert and then notified local law enforcement officials.
“SCV sheriff’s deputies received information that the suspect’s vehicle, a white GMC Acadia, was spotted, unoccupied, in a parking lot near Magic Mountain Parkway and The Old Road in Valencia,” according to a social media post by station officials. “Deputies were able to successfully locate the suspect and child. The man was taken into custody without incident and extradited to Ridgecrest police officers on felony kidnapping and child-stealing charges.”
The Kern County District Attorney’s Office filed both charges against Abbott on Tuesday, raising his bail amount to $250,000.
“We love it when we get to work together with outside agencies to keep anyone, especially children, safe!” according to the SCV Sheriff’s Station’s social media post.
He’s due in a Ridgecrest courthouse for his initial arraignment on July 15, according to Kern County court records available online.
