HOUSTON – A 5-year-old girl was abducted from a northwest Harris County library, and was later found safe near another library.
Harris County Sheriff's investigators said the incident occurred Tuesday around 5:30 p.m. at the Fairbanks Library, 7122 Gessner Road near West Little York Road.
According to investigators, the child was at the library with her mom and teenage sister. The girl got separated from her family, which is when a man lured her into his vehicle, deputies said.
A man working on a car at a nearby tire shop found the girl 15 minutes later crying and walking alone in a field near another library at the intersection of Tanner Road and Gessner Road.
"She was crying and saying she needed help," said Edward Olvera, the man who found her. "She said the man asked her if she wanted some candy, and she said yes."
According to Olvera, the girl said the man sped away from the library with her in the car.
"I feel bad," Olvera said. "Why would a guy kidnap a little girl?"
Authorities took the child to Texas Children's Hospital to be evaluated.
The library has surveillance cameras, but they were not working at the time, authorities said.
The man was described as Hispanic, 30 to 35 years old, 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 5 inches tall and about 180 pounds with an average build and protruding stomach. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored jumpsuit or jogging suit and a black Chicago Bulls cap.
The man was driving a dark-colored, possibly brown, sedan, investigators said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.