Oakland police find abducted 2-year-old boy; toddler was dropped off at substation

Kidnapped Oakland toddler found safe

Michael Hamilton, 2, was found safe after police said he was abducted. Henry Lee reports

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland police on Thursday said they found a 2-year-old boy who had allegedly been abducted by a friend of the family two days ago.

At a news conference, Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said Michael Hamilton was dropped off at the Eastmont police substation about 9 a.m. by an unknown person and the boy is in great health. He said police will be looking at video surveillance to see who dropped him off.

He said that the car in which the toddler was last seen is still outstanding and no one was in custody as of Thursday morning.

Police said they don't have a motive for the alleged abduction.

Earlier in the morning, police said Michael was taken by a 30-year-old woman identified only as Tanisha at 8 p.m. Tuesday from the area of Fruitvale Avenue and East 27th Street.

Oakland police say Tanisha is a friend of Michael's aunt. The aunt left the car to go into a store when Tanisha drove away with Michael still seated in the rear seat, police claimed. Tanisha was last seen driving a rented 2021 Nissan Versa, 4-door, black, CA License Plate 8TYX914.

Oakland police said they weren't notified of the kidnapping until Wednesday at 10:15 p.m. and it took them several hours of due diligence before they issued the Amber Alert.