Boy Lured Into Stranger’s Car Is Home Safe

An 8-year-old Moreno Valley boy was reunited with his terror-stricken mother Friday, less than 24 hours after he was lured by candy and money into a stranger’s car.

“My baby! My baby!� Shirley Nunez screamed as her son, Jimmy, arrived home, bringing an ecstatic end to every parent’s nightmare, the abduction of a child.

The boy was dropped off in the same area by the man who took him less than 24 hours earlier as he was walking home from a market, authorities said.

Jimmy was spotted Friday afternoon by a volunteer searcher. He was still clutching the $20 bill and two lollipops used to lure him into the man’s car the previous day.

Jimmy told his mother and authorities that his abductor identified himself as “Joe.�

“Jimmy said the man told him he was lonely and wanted him [Jimmy] to be his friend,� Shirley Nunez said. “Jimmy said the man didn’t touch him.�

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Lori Marquette said Jimmy appeared to be “in good health, physically and mentally, but was tired.� He was being interviewed by detectives and was helping an artist prepare a sketch of the man, Marquette said.

Jimmy and a friend were returning home early Thursday evening from the market when the man drove up alongside them, offered them candy, the money and a trip to Toys R Us, the other boy told authorities.

The other boy refused to get in the car, but Jimmy did.

Her son “trusts everyone he meets,� Nunez said, and she speculated that he might have been most enticed by the offer of visiting a toy store.

“We got him a Sega Genesis [video game] for Christmas, but it was stolen,� she said. “Maybe Jimmy thought this guy was going to get him a new one.�

Did her son learn his lesson? “I certainly hope so,� she said. “And I’m just so happy for him to be back home.�

The kidnaper was described as in his 30s, about 5-foot-7, 200 pounds, with short brown hair and a mustache, and believed to be driving a blue Japanese-import hatchback.