Jan. 12, 2023 An emotional scene with Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers was caught on video after they rescued a Michigan girl who was allegedly kidnapped by her noncustodial father.
By Charles E. Ramirez Source The Detroit News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
More details have emerged about the alleged kidnapping Monday of a 4-year-old Marysville girl by her noncustodial father.
Lilliana Nardini was found Tuesday and her father, Erik Nardini, was taken into custody in Ohio, officials said.
Video footage shared on Facebook shows three patrol cars surrounding a car as it pulls over. After the driver gets out of the car a patrol officer assures Lilliana, “It’s OK. I got you, sweetie.”
When the officer asks if she’s hurt, an emotional Lilliana tells him, “We saw you coming and I was scared.”
Port Huron police officials, who worked with Marysville police and the Michigan State Police, said Wednesday in a post on the department’s Facebook page that the girl was last seen at about 10:30 p.m. Monday at a Burger King on Gratiot Avenue near Range Road before she went missing. An unidentified person dropped her off at the fast food restaurant, police said. They also said they believed she was with her father.
Investigators said Nardini had been served recently with a court order requiring him to turn the girl over to her mother. They said he allegedly told the girl’s mother that she would never see the child again.
Port Huron police also posted a video taken by the Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers locating Lilliana and arresting Nardini.