From the start, they were suspected to be behind an armed man's seizure of the girl at her and her mother's home.
By Associated Press
Published June 23, 2004
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A 5-year-old girl who was abducted by a gunman claiming to be a police officer was brought unharmed to a police station Tuesday by her grandparents and their lawyer, police said.
Elizabeth Lopez's mother had told police after the late Monday abduction at her apartment that her parents might be involved, said Detective Carlos Negron, a Hollywood police spokesman.
On Tuesday afternoon, "the grandparents' lawyer contacted detectives and said they wanted to cooperate," Negron said. He said the couple, their attorney and the child came to the station shortly after 6 p.m. An Amber Alert for Elizabeth was then canceled.
The hunt for the abductor was continuing, Negron said. The mother, Eunice Lopez, said after reporting the abduction that her parents, Edgar J. Lopez, 71, and Alicia Silvia Iaffa de Lopez, 62, might have wanted to take their granddaughter out of the country, police said. The grandparents are from Venezuela.
Lopez told police a man knocked on her door about 10:15 p.m. Monday, displayed a badge, said he was a law enforcement officer, pointed a gun at her, handcuffed her and ordered her to get the child. Before leaving with the girl, he made her pack a change of clothes to take along.
Police had alerted port and airport officials from Miami to Palm Beach to be on the lookout for the girl and her grandparents.
