5-Year-Old Abducted From School Now in Police Custody
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5-year-old Aaliyah Linton is now in the custody of South Carolina State Police. Authorities say Aaliyah was abducted from Union Springs Elementary School Thursday morning around 8:40 by her father and two other female relatives. Officials say the women abducted the girls once she got off the bus at Union Springs Elementary School. The suspects were said to be driving a maroon van with North Carolina license plates. Authorities issued an Amber Alert around 11 a.m. Shortly after, they were able to contact the girl’s father, Alton Linton. And then South Carolina law enforcement pulled the van over on a South Carolina Interstate around 1:30 p.m. Aaliyah and the suspects were taken into custody. The 5-year-old is safe. Union Springs Elementary School remained on soft lockdown throughout the day. Aaliyah’s mother, Vanessa Douglas, said that Aaliyah’s father does not have custody. Douglas moved to Bullock County in September, after growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina- where the suspects are from. A motive has not been released by authorities. But Douglas said she did receive threats from her daughter’s father in the past, but never imagined his action’s Thursday. Union Springs Police Chief Danny Jackson says the three are likely facing charges for interfering with child custody. Douglas was trying to come up with the money to get to South Carolina to pick up Aaliyah. Law enforcement on the case and the Union Springs Mayor helped out, and Douglas was able to travel to South Carolina. Unions Springs Police, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), and the US Marshals helped in the investigation.
