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Missing 1-Year-Old Boy Reunited With Mother

A 1-year-old boy who went missing on Thursday when a man took a parked minivan with the boy strapped in a car seat was found safe, but the thief remained at large, police said.

Caleb Castro appeared to be in good health after the minivan was found with the boy inside about eight miles away from where the vehicle was stolen, police said.

Caleb was in a carseat in the minivan when a man jumped in after 3 p.m. while the boy's mother was recycling goods at the SA Recycling Center, 1545 Gage Road, in Montebello. He did not know the baby was in the van.

Capt. Luis Lopez, of the Montebello Police Department, said during a news conference that the boy was safe with his mother, but that he was going to be checked out at a hospital to make sure he was not hurt.

A tip led to the discovery of the minivan.

Maria Castro, his mother, was ecstatic.

"I feel blessed! He's OK," she said. "That's what's more important to me, that he's OK."

An Amber Alert had been issued.

Police were looking for the thief, who spoke Spanish, and was described as 30 years old with spiked hair.

The man approached the parked vehicle and ordered out two girls, ages 6 and 4, while their mother stepped away. The keys were in the ignition, so the man started the van and drove away, police said.

The mother screamed that her baby was in the car, but the man took off south on Gage.

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