Vigo County, Indiana – On Wednesday, around 8:20 p.m., a four-year-old Whitehall, Ohio, girl, was found safe and sound after being taken from outside her home, without her parents’ knowledge, by a family member.
Detectives from the Whitehall Police Department of Ohio, were able to track the vehicle, which was believed to have taken the missing four-year-old girl, with the use of technology. The Indiana State Police were notified of the missing child and of the possibility of the vehicle’s location. Trooper Andrew Mattern, from the Putnamville State Police Post, located the suspected vehicle, which was believed to have the missing girl, traveling on Interstate 70 near the ten mile marker, and initiated a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, Trooper Mattern successfully found the four-year-old girl inside the vehicle. Thankfully she was unharmed.
The family member who kidnapped the four-year-old was identified as Gil A.Landaverde, age 37, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Further investigation also revealed that Landaverde had an arrest warrant out of Marion County, Indiana, for an unrelated kidnapping of another child. Landaverde was taken into custody on the active warrants from Whitehall, Ohio, and Marion County. He was transported to the Vigo County Jail where he is currently being held on those warrants.
The four-year-old girl was turned over to the Vigo County Department of Child Services and is being reunited with family members.
