Police searching for woman who is accused of kidnapping her 2-year-old daughter
Crystal Mendez was last seen at an Oakland BART station Wednesday
SAN JOSE >> Police on Thursday found a 2-year-old girl they believed was kidnapped by her mother earlier this week.
The girl, Tayana Lewis, was found with relatives at a home in Oakland, police said in a social media post. The girl's mother, Crystal Mendez, was still at large, as of Thursday afternoon.
“She is safe and with our officers; we are coordinating her return to San Jose,” police said about the girl.
Mendez was suspected of abducting her daughter from a San Jose residence in the 5000 block of Charlotte Drive around 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to police. They were last seen at the Oakland Coliseum BART station on Wednesday, SJPD Public Information Officer Christian Camarillo told Bay Area News Group in an email Thursday afternoon.
“The child's biological mother, Crystal Mendez, does not have legal custody of the child,” Camarillo wrote in a statement. “Mendez was at the residence earlier in the day before she abducted and fled with the child. She was seen boarding public transportation in San Jose and subsequently arrived in the city of Oakland via BART.”
In the images from Wednesday, Mendez wore a white hoodie, black ripped skinny jeans and dark sneakers. San Jose police said she is 5-foot-1 and 150 pounds with long brown hair and brown eyes, and the word “Dante” tattooed on her neck.
Mendez pushed the young girl in a teal and black stroller. Camarillo said Mendez had ties to San Francisco's Tenderloin District and the child had been living under the care of a guardian. Camarillo said her last known residence was in the basement of a home on Turk Street.