The nurse who found Morgan Hill infant Mariana Corona alone in
the stolen vehicle in which she was abducted immediately knew the
baby was healthy, but was unaware of the brief yet widely
broadcast, intensely focused effort to find her that began that
same afternoon.
The nurse who found Morgan Hill infant Mariana Corona alone in the stolen vehicle in which she was abducted immediately knew the baby was healthy, but was unaware of the brief yet widely broadcast, intensely focused effort to find her that began that same afternoon.
Corona was reported missing from the St. Catherine Catholic Church parking lot about 2 p.m. Tuesday, and within minutes law enforcement agencies radiating outward from Morgan Hill began and escalated their search for the child until she was found safe and healthy.
The 1-month-old child, a victim of what police think is a coincidental kidnapping by way of car theft, was found at Toro Park in Salinas, according to Morgan Hill police chief David Swing. The thief or thieves who allegedly stole Corona’s mother’s Infinity sedan, apparently unaware that a child was strapped into the back seat, have not been identified or located.
Corona was found in the park about 5:30 p.m., was checked into a hospital for evaluation, and reunited “in good condition” with her parents, Maribel Corona and Miguel Vidal of Morgan Hill, later the same evening, police said.
Peggy Clancy, an emergency room nurse at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, noticed the baby when she returned to her car after a two-hour hike at Toro Park Tuesday. The white Infiniti in which Corona was still strapped in with a car seat was parked next to Clancy’s. She was preparing to enter her vehicle, when she heard Corona’s soft cry coming from the Infiniti.
A nurse for 34 years, Clancy initially didn’t think anything devious was up, but she decided to stay with the child until her parents returned, she said Wednesday.
“I noticed the baby was by itself. I was looking around, and I thought maybe (the mother) is talking to somebody, or she’s in the bathroom, and she’ll be back in five minutes,” Clancy said.
Then she saw the keys were still in the ignition, a clear sign that the parents might not be around, she said. Clancy, 57 of Salinas, thought perhaps the parents had an argument, or a despondent mother wandered off and left the chid, or even a clandestine “baby exchange” might be about to take place. She even thought about moving her car behind the Infiniti to trap it in when another vehicle – which turned out to be unrelated to the incident – pulled into the parking lot, the only other person within sight while Clancy remained with the child.
“I knew I needed to call 911,” said Clancy, who had no knowledge of the Amber Alert at the time. She wrote down the license plate number and called the authorities. The dispatcher who took her call asked Clancy if the child was wearing a flowery-print outfit, as she was. “Then I realized someone was looking for this child,” Clancy said.
Within about 15 minutes, police and paramedics arrived at the park and carried the child to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.
Just three hours earlier, law enforcement agencies from all over the southern Bay Area were engaged in a manhunt for Corona and her kidnapper.
The infant disappeared when her mother briefly left her in her car, unattended with the keys inside, when she went to retrieve groceries from the St. Catherine Church food pantry, Morgan Hill police Capt. Joe Sampson said. Maribel Corona was only inside the food pantry, located in a trailer on the south side of the church parking lot, for about five minutes – long enough for an unknown suspect to make off with the vehicle.
The car theft was likely a “crime of opportunity” and the thief or thieves did not intend to kidnap or cause any foul play to the child, Sampson said.
The case is still under investigation, and the FBI is assisting Morgan Hill detectives in gathering evidence from the vehicle and the spot where it was found, Sampson said.
The child’s family was “relieved” after hearing the child was found and safe Tuesday afternoon, according to Corona’s cousin Gaby Cortez. The child’s parents, aunts, uncles and more than a dozen relatives waited tensely at city hall, the designated incident command center, Tuesday afternoon for updates from police.
“We drove to Hollister to look for her” earlier in the afternoon, combing any area they could reach, Cortez, 16, said.
St. Catherine parishioners at the church Tuesday said they have heard of vehicles being vandalized and broken into in the parking lot, even during worship service.
Lupe Rodriguez, 72, receives food from the food bank outside of which Mariana Corona was abducted. He said he has never had any problems there, but has noticed homeless people and other food bank clients “hanging out” there.
“People are crazy nowadays. A poor woman coming to get some help for her kids and something happens … ” Rodriguez said.
It is illegal in California for an adult to leave a child unattended in a vehicle, according to Morgan Hill police Sgt. Shane Palsgrove. However, local police will not recommend pressing charges against Corona’s mother, instead leaving that decision up to the district attorney.
A violation of the state’s child endangerment law can be classified as either a misdemeanor or felony, to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Penalties can vary widely and include probation, a monetary fine, or even a jail or prison sentence, according to California penal code.
