LOS ANGELES — Police trying to find a 4-year-old girl searched for a man Tuesday, saying he may have abducted the child who initially had been feared drowned in a lake near downtown.
Authorities issued a statewide "Amber Alert," asking for the public's help in finding Jessica Cortez.
Jessica had gone to Echo Park with her parents and brother on Sunday, and the family discovered she was missing at about 7:30 p.m.
Divers searched the park's lake for almost two days, thinking Jessica could have fallen from a bridge.
However, police Capt. Douglas Shur said witnesses reported seeing Jessica in the park with a man accompanied by a brown Chihuahua dog.
And after interviewing several people who recognized a composite drawing of a man who frequented the popular park, authorities issued the "Amber Alert," a statewide alert aimed at aggressively publicizing kidnappings to help bring in tips. Such an alert was credited with assisting the recent rescue of two teenage girls abducted near Lancaster, Calif.
Shur told reporters Monday that "we have had additional information that has led us to believe that we are focusing on a specific individual."
He described the man as having a dark complexion, 20 to 25 years old, 5-feet-8 to 6-feet tall, with a tattoo of a cross on his lower left leg.
"This is our best lead that we have in locating young Jessica," Shur said. "We hope that he will come forward and give us information so that we can find her safe and sound."
Jessica's parents made a tearful plea in Spanish for her return.
"Don't be afraid of police. Please return her safe. Please bring her back," her father said.
The nation has seen several kidnappings in recent months, but Southern California has been especially hard hit.
Danielle van Dam, 7, was taken in February from her home in a San Diego suburb, and a man is on trial in her slaying. Samantha Runnion, 5, was snatched outside her Orange County home last month while playing with a friend. A man has been charged in her death.