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Crime, Law and Justice
MPR News Staff
St. Paul

UPDATE: Girl, 5, found safe after Mpls. cops seek public's help

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Naila Amariana Pantoja-Perez
Naila Amariana Pantoja-Perez
Courtesy of Minneapolis Police Department

Updated: 10:10 p.m. | Posted 4:45 p.m.

Minneapolis police say a 5-year-old girl who was “forcefully taken” from her home Wednesday afternoon by her mother, was found “safe and sound,” later in the evening. Police said her mother and a man are in custody.

Naila Amariana Pantoja-Perez was with her custodial father when she was allegedly taken by Serenity Joy Jones, 28, and an unknown male from her home in the 3100 block of Cedar Avenue South.

The pair made a “forced entry into the apartment, grabbed the child and fled in an unknown vehicle,” the police said in a statement Thursday, adding that authorities were concerned for Naila’s welfare.