7-Day Kidnaping Ordeal Ends in Joyful Reunion : Crime: Costa Mesa police find Stefanny Zamora at a house in Delano and return her to her parents. A family friend is arrested.

An infant snatched from South Coast Plaza last weekend was returned unharmed to her parents Saturday, and Costa Mesa police arrested a family friend on suspicion of kidnaping.

In a tearful reunion at Costa Mesa police headquarters, 4-month-old Stefanny Zamora’s family exulted, holding one another in the street and thanking God for their good fortune.

“We’re going to throw a party and thank the Lord!” cried Marina Zamora, one of the child’s aunts, alternately laughing and weeping.

In an emotional press conference just after the baby was found, Costa Mesa police Capt. Tom Lazar described the moment when he and detectives called Mario and Beatriz Zamora to tell them that their daughter was safe.

“I can tell you the reaction,” Lazar said, eyes glassy, pausing to collect himself. “This is a real good case for us. There there was a lot of crying and a lot of joy, and we’re real happy.”

Dressed in a bright-red jumpsuit, Stefanny vanished April 22 from Sears Roebuck & Co. at South Coast Plaza, where an aunt and a friend had taken the baby to have her portrait taken.

Acting on a tip Friday night, Costa Mesa detectives flew to Delano, an agricultural community just north of Bakersfield. Police said they found the baby Saturday morning at the home of the aunt’s friend, Maria Louisa Martinez, 36, of Delano.

“The child appears to be in good condition,” Lazar said, shortly after the baby was examined at Delano Regional Medical Center.

The child’s parents were flown to Delano in the Costa Mesa police helicopter. They identified the child and the suspect, and then returned to Costa Mesa for a second reunion with worried aunts, uncles and cousins, many of whom had worked tirelessly for a week, handing out flyers and canvassing the Santa Ana neighborhood where the parents live.

The parents did not comment about the case upon their return. After the helicopter touched down, they were quickly escorted away by a friend.

Lazar said the tipster, whom he would not identify, led police to a stolen car, then to a house where Martinez lived with a man.

When Martinez left the house Saturday morning, Delano police officers and Costa Mesa detectives arrested her without incident.

Lazar said the suspect was expected at the Costa Mesa Jail late Saturday.

Several adults who were at the house when police burst in seemed to have no part in the kidnaping and cooperated fully with police, Lazar said.

“They knew that 10 days ago (Martinez) didn’t have a car and didn’t have a baby,” he said.

Lazar did not speculate what Martinez’s motives may have been. “At this point, it’s really early,” he said. “Again, this all unfolded within the last 36 hours, and we haven’t had a chance to talk to the suspect at this point, to find out what her thoughts were.”

Authorities first feared whoever had the baby might try to flee to Mexico. Then came word that there might be “a Denver connection” in the kidnaping, and Lazar said detectives’ attention temporarily turned to Colorado.

Tips poured in from across the nation and the world, until the one tip came that solved the case, Lazar said.

“We’re very happy we found her,” Marina Zamora said, hugging her relatives and sobbing, after seeing her niece for the first time in a week. “We thank everybody who helped find her. I had to see her alive.”