While many were gearing up for the unofficial kick-off to summer this Memorial Day weekend, first responders were on alert after a statewide Amber Alert was issued for a missing 7-year-old boy.
Just after noon on Saturday, the Susanville Police Department received the alert about the kidnapping of the boy by his non-custodial parent. The abduction occurred earlier that morning. It is believed the child was sleeping when his biological father, Johnathan Sr., cut open the boy’s bedroom window screen. Recently released from a halfway house, Johnathan Sr. had not had contact with the boy for an extended period. Tehama Coutny Sehriff’s announced the father was known to have ties to Chico, Redding, and Susanville.
As soon as the alert was issued, a Susanville officer, immediately began searching for the abductor. Within hours, the officer located and arrested Johnathan Sr. on an out-of-area warrant. The child was found unharmed and was taken into protective custody, where he was later returned to Tehama County.
The Susanville Police Department extends gratitude to the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Lassen County Child Protective Services, and Walmart for their assistance in the child’s successful recovery.
