DANVILLE, Va. – UPDATE
State police have canceled an AMBER Alert for an abducted 7-month-old Danville girl after the child was found safe.Â
Emma Grace Kennedy appears to be in good health, but is being evaluated at a hospital as a precaution. Her father has been arrested.Â
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ORIGINAL STORY
The owner of the Kwik Stop where 7-month-old Emma Grace Kennedy was last seen said what started as a normal Sunday night turned out to be anything but that.
Hewa Jayawardena said that shortly before 8 p.m., Sunday, one of his customers told him that there were some people arguing outside in the parking lot.
AMBER Alert issued for missing 7-month-old Danville girl
After helping his current customers, he walked outside and saw some people arguing. He did not want to be involved in their business, he said, so he asked them to leave and called the police.
"A guy came right around the car and opened the door on the driver's seat because the lady was in the driving seat. And again, they were crawling on each other and, after that, I saw that he opened the back side door of the car and took one baby out," said Jayawardena. "He took the baby and he got over to his car and he left. So that lady was fully helpless. I thought, 'She can't do anything."
What led to an Amber Alert, alleged kidnapping of 7-month-old Emma Grace Kennedy
When the baby was taken out of the car and the father took off, Jayawardena said the mother was hysterical that the police arrived within five to eight minutes.
Why did I not receive an automatic alert on my phone regarding today's Amber Alert?
Jayawardena spent most of Sunday night with the police. He also spent time with the authorities this morning, showing them surveillance footage from the Kwik Stop.
Jayawardena declined to show 10 News any of the footage, at the request of police.
Above are the two images that police have shared from the footage.