Rock Island police provided an update Thursday, shortly after an Illinois Amber Alert was issued for a 4-year-old girl who was inside a stolen vehicle earlier that morning.
Police said that while the young girl is still missing, they do not believe she was targeted in the incident, though they cannot rule out the possibility.
During the press conference, Chief Timothy McCloud stated that the vehicle she was taken in was one of several reported car thefts in Rock Island overnight.
“We aren’t going to rule anything out and are looking at all possibilities,” McCloud informed reporters. “But, given the number of stolen vehicles that occurred overnight, we believe that this was probably unintentional at the time.
And we’re hoping that someone, even anonymously, can tell us where that child was taken out of the car or where they are right now.”
Blessing J. Aoci, a Black 4-year-old girl with 50 pounds, black hair with twists, and brown eyes, was in a booster seat in the back of her mother’s car when it was stolen around 6 a.m. near the intersection of 14th 1/2 Street and 13th Avenue in Rock Island, police said.
According to police, Blessing’s mother left the vehicle running and went inside. Police said the car was stolen with Blessing inside.
Police discovered the vehicle “a short time later” at 9th Street and 14th Avenue in Rock Island, but the child was missing from inside.
“We’re hoping that at this point she just got out of the car early and is in a residence right now,” McCloud said, noting that officers are going door to door in the area where the car was discovered for that purpose.
He urged the public not to organize a search effort at this time, stating that it would be difficult to manage.
“I’d also like to mention that several vehicles were stolen last night, and several of them have yet to be recovered.
So it’s possible that Blessing was transferred to another vehicle,” McCloud said, adding that police are still searching for several of the stolen vehicles.
Police say Blessing is wearing a pink jacket, blue pants, and pink boots.
Anyone with information is asked to contact 911 or the Rock Island Police Department at (309) 732-2677.
“All available resources are being dedicated to finding the missing child, including assistance from surrounding agencies, door to door canvassing and searching utilizing drones from RIPD, Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department, and Moline Police Department,” the department said in a Facebook post.
