SEATTLE – A 2-year-old boy who was kidnapped along with his mother from Des Moines Tuesday afternoon was found safe at a house in Renton Wednesday morning.
An Amber Alert was issued for Ronnie D. Tran. Police say he was taken by his maternal grandmother who had threatened to harm him.
The grandmother, 65-year-old Vien Nguyen, was still on the run when Ronnie was recovered around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday.
Police say Ronnie and his 40-year-old mother were taken by Nguyen and another woman Tuesday from the 24400 block of 13th Place S. The mother was subdued with a stun gun and bound with plastic tie wraps.
Ronnie and his mother were taken to a home in Fife. The mother was tied to a cupboard in the garage while Ronnie was taken into the house, police said.
The mother was able to escape, but was not able to get into the house to get Ronnie.
"Once she escaped, she notified some family members who assisted her in calling 911. We were called at 9:30 last night," Sgt. Mike Graddon with Des Moines Police said.
Then police got a call from a family friend in Renton who said Ronnie had been left with him Tuesday night. The friend said he didn't know about the kidnapping until he heard about the Amber Alert Wednesday morning.
"I'm sitting there and I'm eating my breakfast and I'm checking my Facebook. All of the sudden I see this Amber Alert for this child and it looks like this child in my bed and I'm just like, 'Oh, my God. Like, what's going on?' And I had my wife check and it turns out that this was the child in the Amber Alert," the friend said.
The grandmother turned herself into police Wednesday afternoon and was questioned by police.
The other suspect is in police custody. Detectives say there are too many unanswered questions surrounding this case.
"Our detectives are currently investigating this case," said Graddon. "It's very, very complex, and that is all the information we have at this point, but Ronnie has been found."
