Baby and Kidnaper Still Missing

She presented herself as a good Samaritan extending her hand to a woman in distress. But that distress was deepened immeasurably when she disappeared with the woman’s child.

Now police are seeking the woman, about 18, who walked away with Beatrice Orozco’s month-old son, Hector, on Wednesday outside the Department of Public Social Services office at 2707 S. Grand Ave.

Orozco, 20, was in line outside the office at 10:30 a.m. when she felt dizzy, said Los Angeles Police Lt. Jim Voge. A woman approached and asked if she could help by holding the baby, Voge said.

Orozco sat down and regained her composure in seconds, Voge said, but when she looked up, the woman was gone.

“If the person who took the baby was an opportunist, she made up her mind in seconds,” the lieutenant said.

He described the suspected kidnaper as a Latina, 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds. She had waist-length, straight brown hair and wore black jeans, black sandals and a black jacket with either Lakers or Raiders written on the back, Voge said. The woman also has a mole on the left side of her face.

After she realized that her baby had been taken, Orozco immediately notified the Los Angeles County safety police, who provide security at county buildings. When they could not find the baby or the woman, they called Los Angeles police.

A woman who fit the description of the alleged kidnaper was taken into custody Wednesday. She was released Thursday when Orozco told police that the suspect was not the woman who took her son, Voge said. “We’re back to square one,” he said. “We eliminated her as a suspect, and we have no promising leads.”

Anyone with information is urged to call police at (213) 485-5263.