Missouri toddler found safe after thief stole truck

HAZELWOOD, Mo. (AP) -- A St. Louis County toddler is safe after being left alone in a pickup that was briefly stolen.

"It was really lucky the way things turned out," Hazelwood Police Sgt. Ronald Livingston said. "It could have been totally different."

Police said Maurice Witherspoon of Florissant pumped gas into the 1993 Chevy pickup Monday at a Phillips 66 station in Hazelwood, then left the truck idling while he went to pay. Inside the truck was 15-month-old Jada Witherspoon, seated in a car seat.

Witherspoon turned around just in time to see his truck being driven away by a man wearing a red cap. Police began a frantic search.

Within a half-hour, the truck was found about three blocks away, abandoned on a church parking lot. Jada was safe inside. The truck was not damaged.

The suspect, who remained at large, may have heard the child cry and decided to abandon the vehicle, Livingston guessed.

Margie Bonner, 24, of Kirkwood, Jada's mother, was at home when police called her about the incident. Witherspoon had Jada for the day and was about to bring her to her mother's home when the pickup was stolen.

"I was worrying and praying the whole way up here," Bonner said outside the police station.

Livingston warned against leaving vehicles running, unlocked and unattended while dashing into buildings -- especially if young children are in them.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com.