Law enforcement officials canceled an Amber Alert for a missing 2-month-old girl Thursday after the infant was found safe with her mother in a Denver motel.
A tweet from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office noted the girl’s mother, Ashley Ardolino, was taken into custody. The girl’s mother and father, Luis Novelo-Rojas, were accused of taking her from a relative’s home in Pueblo West on Tuesday.
Pueblo detectives learned Thursday morning that Ardolino and Elsy were at a Motel 6 in the 12000 block of East 39th Avenue in Denver, according to a Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office news release. Ardolino was contacted about 10:25 a.m. while leaving the motel room. She was arrested on outstanding warrants and Elsy was found inside the room.
“She is being checked by medical (staff) and appears to be doing well,” sheriff’s officials said.
Ardolino’s mother, who has been caring for the infant since mid-June. told police the parents were visiting the baby Tuesday night when they got into an argument and left with the child. The girl was in her grandmother’s care after Ardolino allegedly made statements threatening to harm the baby, the sheriff’s office said.
Police on Thursday morning announced that Denver and Arvada officers arrested the girl’s 35-year-old father overnight in Arvada. He was taken into custody for an unrelated incident, the sheriff’s office said, and was held in the Denver jail on suspicion of motor vehicle theft, felony eluding and several outstanding warrants.
On Wednesday afternoon, police found a dark green Chevrolet Yukon, used by the parents when they allegedly took the child, abandoned in Aurora.
Tips from the public and Motel 6 staff helped investigators in their efforts to find the child and parents, Pueblo County Sheriff David J. Lucero said in the news release.
“Our detectives did great work from the get-go and we are thankful for their tireless efforts,” Lucero said. “We also want to thank the public, the employees of Motel 6 that paid attention to the Amber Alert and the media for sharing the information about the missing child and for all the tips and leads provided to law enforcement.”
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