Dallas 7-Year-Old Girl Found After Being Abducted on Walk to Store

A 7-year-old girl who was abducted off the street in Dallas on Sunday was found safe the day after her kidnapping sparked a huge manhunt for the person who took her.

Lillie May Anderson was reportedly tricked into a car as she walked to the store with her 9-year-old brother, according to news radio station WBAP.

In a Facebook post, the Dallas Police Department revealed Anderson was last seen being driven away on Sunday afternoon "in a grey SUV [of] unknown make, unknown model, and unknown license plate." Officers warned they believed she could be in danger. However by early Monday morning, the police department updated its Facebook post to simply say: "Update: Lillie May Anderson has been located safe."

Anderson's family told local news station Fox 4 that an unknown man had taken the girl. An Amber Alert was issued on Sunday, which was sent to many cell phone users across Texas and urged drivers and residents across the state to keep an eye out for the 7-year-old or the vehicle.

Stranger abductions are extremely rare, according to authorities. On average, fewer than 350 victims under the age of 21 have been abducted by strangers in the United States per year since 2010, the FBI says, with no clear directional trend. Whereas hundreds of thousands of juveniles are reported missing each year, with the vast majority (more than 95 percent) found after running away, with parental abduction—when the child is smuggled away from an ex-partner—accounting for most of the remaining cases.

Unconfirmed reports over the weekend suggested that the Anderson siblings were both coaxed into a car by a man who offered them a ride. But the alleged kidnapper reportedly tricked the boy into getting out of the vehicle before driving off with the girl.

The Amber Alert did not provide any details about the suspect. In addition, the police's update that said Anderson was "located safe" did not reveal where or when she had been found, who she was with, her condition, and whether there have been any arrests in the case.

Newsweek has reached out to Dallas Police Department by email for further information and comment.

The Anderson family's horror began when they were called to say that both children were missing, according to Fox 4. But shortly afterward, the 9-year-old was found who then became the prime witness to his sister's abduction.

"He kind of gave us a good description of the car he was in, but he's nine. His emotions are all over the place. The tears are coming down. I could tell he's trying to stay strong," Corey Smith, the siblings' cousin, told the station.

The case comes just weeks after a 13-year-old boy managed to save his 8-year-old sister from a would-be kidnapper by fighting him off with a slingshot at their home in Michigan.

Meanwhile, Dallas has seen another child saved from a kidnapper in recent months after a missing 13-year-old girl was found locked in a man's shed after he enticed her away from her home with methods "consistent with grooming."

And in March, a yearslong child abduction case finally ended with relief for worried relatives when missing Washington state child Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, 8, was found safe in Mexico after allegedly being kidnapped by her biological mother four years prior.