Thanks to an Amber Alert and a quick-thinking citizen, an 8-year-old California girl was rescued today after a horrifying night. Elisa Cardenas was playing with friends outside her house in Fresno, Calif. early Monday evening, when police say Gregorio Gonzales tried to lure the girls into a pickup truck.
The children ran, but Gonzales allegedly grabbed Elisa and sped away. Her mother chased after the truck, but it was too late.
"Please, whoever has her daughter to bring her back," said a translator on her behalf. "All she wants is her daughter back home." A statewide Amber Alert was issued, and more than 100 officers immediately went on the hunt, searching for the truck, which was captured on surveillance video at a nearby intersection.
Then, early this morning, a man named Victor Perez spotted the truck. He jumped into his car and began following it. When he saw Elisa's head in the window, he acted boldly.
"I was yelling at him and kept cutting him off," said Perez. "He was hiding her, pushing her down."
Investigators say Gonzales shoved Elisa out of the truck and onto the street. As Gonzales fled, Perez called the police.
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