Perilous
Times
FBI: Missing California toddler, father found dead
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The bodies of a missing 2-year-old
Sacramento girl and her father were discovered Saturday night in
the man's vehicle, nearly a week after he took her during a child
custody dispute, authorities said.
Authorities say the bodies of a missing 2-year-old Sacramento girl
and her father, Mourad Samaan, shown here, were found Saturday in
the man's vehicle in El Dorado County, Calif.
Madeline Samaan-Fay and Mourad "Moni" Samaan, 49, were found dead
in his green Toyota 4Runner in a rural area near Placerville,
about 45 miles northeast of the capital, according to FBI Special
Agent John Cauthen.
Investigators still haven't determined the cause and time of the
deaths, Cauthen said.
Madeline was taken by her father last Sunday after her mother was
granted custody of the toddler. The FBI issued an AMBER alert
Friday.
The father and daughter were last seen in a Sacramento Raley's
grocery store Sunday. Since then, Samaan had cut off all
communication with friends and family members, Cauthen said.
Samaan was served the day before with a notice that the girl's
mother was awarded full custody of their daughter, ending what had
been a joint custody arrangement, Cauthen said.
He then failed to return the child to her mother as expected.
Samaan had not been charged with a crime.
The mother didn't report the girl missing until Tuesday.
The FBI had asked the public for its help in spotting the pair or
Samaan's vehicle. The FBI also released photographs of the pair,
including a photo showing them in the grocery store Sunday.
FBI agents and investigators from the El Dorado County Sheriff's
Department were on the scene late Saturday. The investigation was
expected to last throughout the weekend, Cauthen said.