N.C. baby abducted by father, a sex offender, found safe by police

RALEIGH, N.C. — Police have found the 7-month-old girl abducted Sunday in Danville, Va., by her father, a convicted sex offender from Asheboro, N.C.

Emma Grace Kennedy appears to be in good health and is being evaluated in a local hospital, Danville police said. Police have notified Emma’s mother.

The child and her accused abductor, 51-year-old Carl Ray Kennedy, were found at a residence in Randleman, a town of about 4,100 people 23 miles south of Greensboro.

Nearly a dozen officers participated in the arrest, including members of the Danville police, Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and U.S. Secret Service.

Randolph County Sheriff Robert Graves said Kennedy did not put up a fight and was not armed.

“He seemed like somebody that’s been on the run, that was tired, I guess,” Graves said at a news conference. “He didn’t have a whole lot to say and kind of not a whole lot of reaction. Not a lot of expression.”

TV station WSLS identified the residence as a mobile home in Randleman and said Kennedy had attempted to disguise his gold 2007 Suzuki Forenza by painting it black.

It was believed Kennedy and the girl had arrived at the home sometime Tuesday morning and had not been there through the night, Graves said. He declined to talk about who else may have been in the home, if anyone, and if they would face charges. The exact location of the home was also not revealed.

Investigators believed almost from the beginning that Kennedy might bring the girl to North Carolina, after allegedly abducting her Sunday from a Kwik Stop convenience store in Danville.

Early Tuesday, the Durham Police received a tip involving a man who was trying to sell a baby, according to TV station reports. TV stations WTVD and WRAL reported a tipster said a man tried to sell a baby at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.