An update in the search for 21-month-old Daphne Viola Webb, who was abducted from her father's car outside of a liquor store on Oakland's International Boulevard yesterday: Oakland Police believe the girl was taken by an unidentified black or Hispanic woman, about 30-40 years old. Meanwhile, the girl's father John Anthony Webb was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of child endangerment.
Witnesses say the suspect had long, straight black hair and was wearing a light-colored shirt and jeans when she was spotted walking away from the car with Daphne. Oakland Police have not yet identified a vehicle connected to the case.
Although not a suspect in his daughter's abduction, Webb was arrested Thursday morning for putting his child in danger when he entered Gazzali's Supermarket at 78th and International Boulevard around 11 a.m. Wednesday. Webb is cooperating with investigators and says he was in and out of the store to buy an energy drink, but he left his daughter in his black Ford SUV along with the girl's 87-year-old grandmother who suffers from dementia.
As part of the ongoing search for Daphne, OPD and FBI investigators spent several hours searching a home on Greenridge Drive where the family has been living recently. Later in the evening, the search moved to Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Park near Oakland International Airport. Police say they were searching every spot in Oakland that the pair had visited recently. Today, the department plans to search the lake at Shoreline park with an underwater robot.
Daphne is described as black, about 2 feet tall and weighing about 30 pounds. She has short, black, curly hair, a medium complexion, brown eyes and is missing part of her left ear. She was last seen wearing an orange, two-piece pajama set with pink hearts and pink socks.
Neighbors told the Oakland Tribune that Webb is "just an all-around great guy."
Previously: Amber Alert: Toddler Kidnapped From Car In Oakland