Please Bring Baby Back Alive, Dad Says : Kidnaping: An anguished Santa Ana couple plead for the return of their 4-month-old daughter, abducted at South Coast Plaza.

Mario Zamora said Sunday he wants to send a simple message to the woman accused of kidnaping his 4-month-old daughter from South Coast Plaza.

“Please, please, bring her back alive,” the 23-year-old father said. “Don’t let anything happen to her.”

Zamora and his wife, Beatriz, 24, a Santa Ana couple with two daughters, have been living every parents’ nightmare since their infant daughter, Stephanie, was snatched at South Coast Plaza on Saturday--Beatriz’s 24th birthday. The child, her aunt--Esther Zamora--and the woman suspected of the kidnaping were on their way to have photos taken at the Sears department store there, police said.

Authorities are searching for Rosemary (Rosie) Marquez, a woman in her early 30s who had recently befriended the Zamora family. They are concentrating their efforts in the Santa Ana and Tustin areas, where Marquez is believed to have friends or relatives.

“We’re looking all over for her, and we are asking the public’s help too,” said Sgt. Tom Boylan, the detective assigned to the case, who said police are reviewing South Coast Plaza security camera tapes for potential evidence. “At this point, we just can’t speculate on why someone would do something like this.”

The suspect had befriended the family earlier in the week, when she went door-to-door at the Zamoras’ Fairview Street apartment complex asking residents if they knew of a baby sitter she could employ, police said. But police said they are doubtful Marquez has a child of her own.

Marquez persuaded the Zamoras that their brown-eyed daughter could model infant clothing and potentially earn $500 per photo session. Mario Zamora’s sister, Esther, agreed to take her niece to have a photo taken and Marquez went with them, police said.

Police said the suspect urged Esther Zamora to make a phone call. When the woman returned from making a phone call about noon Saturday, Marquez and the infant had vanished. They have have not been seen or heard from since.

The grief-stricken couple, who waited at the Costa Mesa police station on Sunday in the hope of hearing good news, said they don’t care if the kidnaper is prosecuted. They just want to cuddle their baby girl again.

“We just want our baby back all right,” said Mario Zamora, his eyes red from crying. “She has the most beautiful, big ol’ brown eyes. She’s a real special girl.”

“We just never believed something like this could happen,” Beatriz Zamora said through an interpreter. The couple said Esther Zamora is deeply depressed and blames herself for the child’s disappearance.

“I know why (Esther) feels that way, but she can’t blame herself for what happened,” said Marina Zamora, who is Esther and Mario Zamora’s sister.

Marina Zamora said she also feels guilty because she was suspicious of Marquez, but never expressed her concerns until it was too late. In addition to claiming she could help the family earn hundreds of dollars by using the infant as a photo model, Marquez also bragged that she could help Mario Zamora get a better job, Marina Zamora said.

“When I heard this, I was (wondering) ‘Why is this woman doing all of this?’ ” said Marina Zamora, who accompanied the distraught parents to the Police Department on Sunday and served as interpreter for Beatriz Zamora. “I became suspicious.”

“Off the top of my head I said, ‘Watch Esther come back without the baby,’ ” she said, as tears spilled from her eyes. “I just never thought this could happen. Why would someone do this?”

Mario Zamora works as a packer at a manufacturing plant. He was returning home from work Saturday when he passed a patrol car with a woman in the back seat. Looking over, he was shocked to realize it was his sister, Esther. He pulled over and asked what had happened, and that’s when he said he learned his daughter was missing.

“She was crying and told me ‘The baby’s gone,’ and I just started crying,” Mario Zamora said.

The couple is trying to shield their 5-year-old daughter, Beatriz, from news about the kidnaping. Mario Zamora said that in the past, he was not afraid to trust people, even strangers. But no more.

“We don’t like to think the worst of people,” Mario Zamora said. “But I’m not going to trust nobody anymore.”

Police on Sunday described Marquez as a 5-foot to 5-foot-2 Latina who weighs about 180 pounds. She has dark hair with frosted highlights. She was wearing a green top and beige shorts and driving a newer model four-door Nissan. The child was dressed in a red long-sleeve top with roses, red overalls and had diamond stud earrings.

Anyone with information about the missing child is asked to call the Costa Mesa police at (714) 754-5280.