AMBER Alert canceled for Tempe 13-year-old Jazmin Babers
Ernest Gerard Babers
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 01/08/2013
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By: Monica Lempert
TEMPE, AZ - Tempe police issued an AMBER Alert for 13-year-old Jazmin Babers after she was abducted by her her biological father at a Tempe bus stop Tuesday afternoon.
Police said her father, 37-year-old Ernest Babers suffers from mental illness and does not have custody of his daughter.
According to police, around 5 p.m., Jazmin texted her mom saying Babers was taking her to California and that she was nervous and scared. Shortly after, she made another call for help.
"The Buckeye Police Department received a phone call from a young girl by the name Jazmin stating that she was scared and she needed help. That was the last we heard of her," said Tempe police spokesman Mike Pooley.
Tempe police immediately issued an AMBER Alert to surrounding agencies, including ones headed to California.
Police said a highway patrol officer in Quartzsite, Arizona recognized a vehicle matching the description of the blue SUV sent out in the AMBER Alert and pulled the driver over.
The driver turned out to be Ernest Babers. Police said the vehicle Babers was driving had been stolen earlier in the day.
Authorities canceled the alert around 7:30 p.m. after the teen was found safe.
Police are questioning Babers in Quartzsite where he will remain in custody until Tempe police arrive.
Thirteen-year-old Jazmin is safe and police were expecting her to be brought back to her mom in Tempe late Tuesday night.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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