At 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 7, the parents of a five-year-old girl were awakened by a strange noise. When the father rushed outside, he was shocked to see his stepdaughter in the arms of an unknown man who was already carrying her away.
The father ordered the man to stop and give him back his daughter while the mother called 911 and reported the incident.
"There was a man in my home and he took my five-year-old daughter," said the mother as she called 911. "I happened to wake up and he had my daughter outside. My husband ran out there and got her from him."
Police officers and bloodhounds of Salt Lake City police immediately set up a search perimeter. An hour later, they apprehended the suspect who was found at another house a few blocks away from the girl's house.
The suspect was identified as Troy Mitchell Morley, 48, from Roy, Utah. He was arrested and booked on charges of child kidnapping, trespassing, burglary and resisting arrest.
"This individual was tracked several blocks away where he ended up entering a second home and entering the basement," said Sgt. Dean Carriger of the Sandy Police Department.
Police said that Morley had no ties with the family and that his actions seemed to have been done randomly. However, they were not sure what he was planning to do with the little girl.
Morley has been residing in Roy for the past 10 years. In his neighborhood, parents seemed to know him. One parent described him as "creepy" and even reminded her children not to go near Morley's house.
Madeline Wallace, one of Morley's neighbors, claimed that she caught him one night as he was standing outside the bedroom window of her son.
"He was just in his shorts, no shoes, and it was cold," says Wallace. "He had no sweater on and my husband came looking around and he hid in my neighbor's yard until the cops showed up and then the cops just sort of let him go."
Miles Holman, a lawyer representing the girl's parents, said the child was unharmed during the kidnapping attempt.
"There was no harm to the child physically; the child appears to be happy," said Holman. "This has been an anxiety producing day. It's a nice family. They seem to be doing well considering the circumstances today."
Every father can be a hero for their kids, lucky for the stepdad and the family that the intruder did not carry any firearm. It might have been another story for Superman.
