Abduction Report : Missing Boy, 6, Walks Into Police Station

The search for a 6-year-old boy who was reportedly abducted from outside a Pacoima supermarket Friday ended when he walked into a police station alone, teary-eyed but apparently unharmed, authorities said.

Investigators do not know how the boy, Emiliano Ramos, ended up at the Foothill Division police station, where his parents, Elsa Vega, 33, and Arturo Ramos, 36, of Pacoima were being interviewed by detectives. The station is about three miles from the grocery store.

Vega told The Times she had gone shopping at the Boys Market at 12765 Van Nuys Blvd. after picking up Emiliano from a nearby school where he attends kindergarten. Shortly after she walked out of the market about 11:30 a.m., a man grabbed the oldest of her four children, she said.

Suspect Talks to Mother

“I got out of the supermarket, and I’m walking a little bit, and a . . . guy tells me, ‘Hi,’ ” Vega said. “I said, ‘Hi,’ and I kept walking, and I felt someone walking behind me.”

Vega said she was carrying the groceries in her right arm and her 3-month-old daughter, Irmalinda, in her left. Emiliano and the two other children, Arturo, 2, and Hector, 4, also were with her, she said.

As they reached the middle of the parking lot, Vega said, she felt the man grab her baby, “but I held my little girl, and I told Emiliano, ‘Run!’ But he didn’t run, and he got Emiliano by the neck and put him in the car.”

The man drove his car, described as possibly an older brown Chevrolet Malibu, east on Van Nuys Boulevard. Vega said she tried to follow in her own car but lost the other car after about half a block and did not notice a license plate.

The kidnaper was described as a stocky black man, 35 to 40 years old, about 6 feet tall, with a large Afro hair style and wearing a dirty red T-shirt, police said.

Picture of Son

Vega said she made the six-block trip home to get a picture of Emiliano, which she said she took immediately to the police station.

She reported the incident about 40 minutes after it happened. Detectives who searched near the supermarket couldn’t find anyone who saw it, Lt. Robert Stemples said. No ransom demand was reported, he said.

When Emiliano walked into the police station about 4 p.m., officers noticed that he fit the description of the missing child, Stemples said. They ran outside but could find no trace of anyone who might have dropped him off, he said.

Emiliano was examined at Serra Memorial Health Center in Sun Valley. A hospital spokeswoman said he was unhurt.

Police said the investigation is continuing.