DANVILLE, Va. – UPDATE
State police have canceled an AMBER Alert for an abducted 7-month-old Danville girl after the child was found safe.
Emma Grace Kennedy appears to be in good health, but is being evaluated at a hospital as a precaution. Her father has been arrested.
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ORIGINAL STORY
As the Amber Alert search for 7-month-old Emma Grace Kennedy continues, Emma's aunt, Amy Metzger, shed more light on what led to the alleged abduction.
About 18 months ago, Metzger said, her sister, Krysten Murphy, began working at a nursing home where she met Carl Kennedy.
Kennedy is the man police believe abducted Emma Sunday evening.
The two became romantically involved, but Metzger said her sister did not know about Kennedy's past. Police say he is a registered sex offender in North Carolina. Kennedy is out on a $250,000 bond for drug distribution.
Gas shop owner, one of the people to see Emma Kennedy, speaks out after alleged abduction
However, once Murphy found out, Metzger said she started looking for ways to get away from Kennedy.
Metzger said that Kennedy's arrest in March provided that way out and that two weeks ago, Murphy obtained full custody of Emma.
Why did I not receive an automatic alert on my phone regarding today's Amber Alert?
At that point, Metzger claims Kennedy began to harass the family by driving by the house and posting on social media.
Murphy filed a report about the harassment with Danville police, according to Metzger.
In the past few weeks, Metzger said, another family member would always be with Murphy and Emma when they left home; however, Sunday night, that was not the case when Murphy stopped at the Kwik Stop.
Metzger said apparently Kennedy was following Murphy and then kidnaped Emma at 7:55 p.m. Sunday.
She also said that while the photo on the right shows Kennedy holding Emma, the one on the left is of Krysten trying to get inside the car.