Father Arrested in Abduction

A 2-year-old boy was reunited with his mother Sunday after his father, suspected of orchestrating the boy’s kidnapping, turned himself in to police. The child had been the focus of an Amber Alert since Friday, when three strangers snatched him from his mother’s arms on a sidewalk in Venice.

“He’s fine; they’re here,” said Los Angeles Police Department Det. L. Britton at the Pacific Station.

According to police, Jason Murdock Steele has been at the center of a custody battle between his parents, Dorothy Murdock and Scott Eric Rosenstiel.

Police said Rosenstiel, 30, who arrived at the station with the boy at noon, was booked on charges of child abduction and taken to Van Nuys jail.

After seeing his mother Sunday, Jason, still wearing the green jacket he reportedly had on when kidnapped, was placed in protective custody with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services while authorities investigated custody arrangements.

Police said they did not yet know the nature of the relationship between Rosenstiel and the abductors.

Authorities were searching for a man and a woman believed to have participated in the kidnapping with Justin Shannon Garcia, 34, who was arrested Friday in Temple City. He was questioned over the weekend to determine his connection to Rosenstiel and the other suspects.

Murdock was walking home with her son in the 1700 block of Penmar Avenue about 1:30 p.m. when two men and a woman drove up in a white BMW station wagon and a black pickup truck.

Police said the abductors handed Murdock fraudulent court papers claiming Rosenstiel had gained custody of the boy, yanked him from her side and left in the two cars.

Murdock said her son screamed, “Mommy, Mommy!” as they took him away.

The truck was found when Garcia was arrested. An Amber Alert issued for the BMW was lifted late Saturday when the empty vehicle was found in Chatsworth.