The Oakland Police Department has announced that the one-year-old boy who was reportedly kidnapped has been found safe over the weekend.
OPD said the one-year-old, Malakai Thomas, was last seen on Friday at 2:00 p.m. The incident report said that he was taken from a homeless encampment on the 1200 block of 73rd Avenue, near Oakland Coliseum, as KRON4 reported.
OPD said in a post on social media that during the preliminary investigation, Thomas’ mother gave several conflicting statements. The police reportedly asked for the public’s help locating Thomas, who was described as a one-year-old Black male weighs 30 pounds and stands at two-feet, six inches, with brown hair and brown eyes. Despite an extensive search of the area and interviews with several witnesses, the authorities were unable to locate the child for some time.
Luckily, authorities located the baby boy with another man at another homeless encampment located on 77th Avenue near Hawley Street — less than a mile away from where the boy was originally taken, as the Examiner reported. OPD publicly announced the discovery around 10 a.m. Saturday.
OPD has since confirmed that the baby appeared to have suffered no significant injuries, although he was taken to a hospital for evaluation before being released to the custody of a family member.
At the time of this writing, it remains unclear whether the man who was found with Malakai was placed under arrest.