WARDEN, Wash. — A family in Warden, Washington, is thankful for the safety of their son after he and their family car were stolen by a relative Wednesday morning.
It was on South Main Street where Maria Valez's mother was with her two-month-old grandson, stopping in to check on something at her apartment.
She stepped out of her car briefly when authorities said it was stolen with the child inside.
"My baby is missing," Valez said. "I need to figure out where I need to go."
Thoughts were running through Valez's mind when she found out her son was kidnapped Thursday morning by who she says is her brother's sister-in-law, Rita Gabriella Lozano.
"It's just an emotion that I would never want anybody to feel," Valez said.
Her and the child's father, Eddie Perez, are still in shock.
Once the car was stolen, the Grant County Sheriff's Office said law enforcement used traffic cameras to find where the car was. Fifteen minutes later and 12 miles away, law enforcement took Lozano into custody.
The sheriff's office then said Lozano, who was handcuffed in the back of a police vehicle, was able to crawl to the front of the police vehicle and drive away.
Lozano got half a mile away before authorities took her into custody again.
Despite the family car and multiple cop cars suffering damage, the child wasn't harmed.
"What if he died?" Perez said. "What if he passed away? What if he wasn't here? This could have gone a whole different story."
Perez said he couldn't handle the thought of something happening to his first child.
"I can't trust no one nowadays," Perez said. "Can't trust anyone. I never thought this would happen to us."
"I know my mom feels super bad and I know it," Valez said. "There's nothing that we could have done."
The family said they are planning on holding Lozano accountable.
"We are planning on pressing charges for what she did, especially because [they were] her family was trying to reach her," Valez said. "I just, I don't think there's an excuse for her actions at all."
Lozano faces charges of kidnapping, driving under the influence and theft of a motor vehicle.