Missing baby located: 19-year-old woman arrested

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Baby Angel Miguel Perez reunited with his parents

Baby Angel Miguel Perez is reunited with his parents after being taken from his mother's car on Monday, Nov. 23.

Less than 48 hours after being abducted from the backseat of his mother's car, 1-month old Angel Perez attended a press conference this morning and was coddled by North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey.

Local, state and federal officers gleefully announced the return of the child to his family.

Investigators charged Andrea Samone Walker, 19, of Goose Creek with kidnapping.

Authorities say Walker followed Angel's mother, Lidia Juarez, for a little while Monday until she saw an opportunity to take the baby at the Rivers Avenue Post Office. Police say Juarez left the child in the idling car while she ran in for about five minutes to buy stamps, at which point the suspect unstrapped the child from a safety seat and fled the parking lot in a car.

Spencer Pryor, North Charleston Police public information officer said that thanks to two tips they received authorities arrested Walker without incident at about 2:30 a.m. at an apartment complex off Midland Parkway.

Pryor declined to release few other details, saying it's only been hours since the arrest and they were still trying to sort out the details themselves.

At a bond hearing today, Angel's mother, Lidia Juarez, urged Charleston County magistrate Linda Lombard to deny bail for Walker.

Speaking through an interpreter, Juarez said Walker had made her and her family suffer and she feared that if Walker were released from jail, she might do the same thing to another family. Citing the serious nature of the crime, Lombard ordered that Walker be held without bail.

Earlier today, Juarez and the baby's father thanked everyone through a translator for helping find the child but she didn't say much else, other than "feliz" after a reporter asked how she was feeling.

Pryor declined to answer questions about whether Juarez faces possible charges for leaving the child unattended in the car.

"We're going to concentrate on this happy reunion right now," he said.

Check back with postandcourier.com for more details as they become available.

Reach David MacDougall at 937-5655 or macdougd@postandcourier.com Reach Andy Paras at 937-5589 or aparas@postandcourier.com.