Amber Alert issued for missing Carthage 8-month-old boy

CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) -- Carthage police on Friday were investigating a report of two masked men breaking into a home, assaulting a man and abducting the man's 8-month-old boy.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert on Thursday night for Eddie Salazar, who was described as about 20 pounds, with dark hair and brown eyes and a lung-shaped birthmark on his right arm.

Two men wearing ski masks reportedly broke into the family's home late Thursday while the father was sleeping, Carthage police said. The man was beaten unconscious, and the house was ransacked before the boy was taken.

Police chief Greg Dagnan said officers spent the night verifying the kidnapping.

"We know the effectiveness of these alerts is lost if we send out lots of alerts that aren't real," Dagnan said. "So we try vigorously to verify everything we can before sending one out."

Dagnan said it was clear there had been a forced entry and the father had been knocked unconscious.

"We've spent all night talking to family members and trying to find any connection to anyone who might have wanted to take the child," Dagnan said. "But to tell you names of suspects, I can't do that right now."

Officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and area police departments were fanning out across the area searching for the baby.

"This is still an active search, we're still looking for this child in this neighborhood," Watson said.

Neighbors said the family had moved to the area last summer.

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Information from: The Carthage Press