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Amber Alert issued for abducted California girlPolice: Family beaten by kidnapper
(CNN) -- California authorities searched Saturday for a 9-year-old San Jose girl who was abducted from her home by a man who beat her mother and brother before driving away with her, police said. Police said the victim went into her house alone Friday at about 4 p.m. after coming home from school with a friend. The friend continued on to his own home. "We don't know if the suspect was in her house or not, or came in later," said San Jose police spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon. Police also are trying to determine whether the suspect entered the house through a window that the girl's mother broke earlier when she forgot her house key. The mother, 31-year-old Rosalie Tamayo, and her brother came home about 4:30 p.m. They tried to raise the garage door to park the car, but the door kept hitting an obstacle. The 15-year-old brother ducked underneath and was attacked by a man who began beating and choking him, Dixon said. The brother told police that while he was being attacked, he saw his sister in the back seat of the man's car, crying, Dixon said. The mother got into the garage through the house and was also beaten before the man drove off. She called 911, and later told police she had she may have scratched the man's arms and face, and bitten one of his fingers. The boy was able to get away from the man and run to a neighbor's house, but the man drove off before the boy could get help. The mother and brother were treated at a hospital for their injuries and released, Dixon said. The California Highway Patrol issued a statewide Amber Alert to notify the public, the media and other law enforcement officials of the kidnapping late Friday afternoon. The family said the man spoke exchanged a few words with them in Spanish, said police spokeswoman Catherine Unger. There was no known motive for the crime, but some items were stolen from the home, police said. Unger said she didn't know what was taken. Police said the suspect is in his 30s or early 40s, is between 5 feet 2 and 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs about 160 pounds, has dark hair and had an unshaven face. He was wearing a gray knit cap and silver shirt. Police said they were concerned the suspect might head to Mexico, 600 miles away. He was driving a silver, late 1980s or early 1990s Honda Accord or similar vehicle. The car has tinted rear windows and a loud muffler. The license plate number is unknown. Dixon said 40 investigators are assigned to the case, and are interviewing the family, relatives and neighbors. He said they have a sketch of the suspect. Search parties with trained dogs are scouring the neighborhood. "We'll pulling out all the stops," Dixon said. The alert also has gone out to the media and police through the TRAK system, which stands for Technology to Recover Abducted Kids, Dixon said. An Amber Alert is used if authorities believe the child could be killed or seriously injured a very short time after being kidnapped. It uses radio, television, roadside electronic billboards and emergency broadcast systems to report information about kidnapping suspects and victims soon after the abduction of a child under 18 is reported. The alerts -- named after a 9-year-old Texas girl, Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and killed in 1996 -- are used in 41 states, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
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