UPDATED: Amber Alert Canceled, Abducted Infant Found

Update: 11:50 a.m. Monday, March 25: The California Highway Patrol is reporting that the infant girl who was inside a white Jeep Liberty stolen from San Jose this morning has been found.

The vehicle was located on Capitol Expressway in San Jose. CHP officials said they don't know yet if suspect has been taken into custody.

The Amber Alert has been canceled.

Patch will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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Update: 10:03 a.m., March 25

Campbell Patch received several alerts from Santa Clara County's Alert SCC as well as from the California Highway Patrol's office verifying the child in this case as 12-month-old Gabriela Quintero. 

The suspect, a Hispanic woman, is driving a 2006 White Jeep Liberty, California license plate number 6BWK440.

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An Amber Alert has been issued for an infant girl who was inside a white Jeep Liberty that was stolen from San Jose this morning, police said.

The car was taken at about 6:40 a.m. in the 2300 block of Amador Court, off of Story Road, a few blocks from Interstate Highway 680. The mother, Graciella Quintero, had placed her 11-month-old daughter Gabriella in a car seat in the backseat of the Jeep but had not yet strapped her in, San Jose police Sgt. Jason Dwyer said.

Quintero was bringing items from her house to her car and stepped away from the Jeep momentarily, leaving the key in the ignition with the engine off, Dwyer said. When she came back outside she saw the Jeep driving away.

Her daughter, whose first birthday is in four days, was gone, police said. She called police, who arrived within three minutes, Dwyer said.

The suspect is believed to be a woman described as white or Hispanic and in her 30s, wearing a dark top and dark pants and carrying a red-and-white Target bag. Quintero, who is a single mother, did not recognize the suspect but saw her standing nearby before the car was stolen, Dwyer said.

"The mother is understandably shaken," Dwyer said. "It's very difficult to interview someone in that condition."

It is unclear whether the car thief knew there was a baby in the Jeep, but Dwyer said police are treating the case as a stranger abduction.

"We've been treating this as if a little girl's life is held in the balance," he said.

About 40 San Jose police officers are looking for the Jeep and the girl, and law enforcement agencies throughout the Bay Area are on alert. The California Highway Patrol is involved, and an aerial search is being conducted. Police are contacting neighbors to see if any of them have surveillance cameras that may have captured images of the suspect.

Gabriella was wearing a green "onesie" with gray sheep on it at the time of the theft, police said. Her car seat is purple.

The Jeep Liberty is described as white with a spare tire attached to the rear, and a sticker showing two babies kissing each other. The license plate number is 6BWK440.

Anyone who sees the vehicle is asked to call 911.

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