MIAMI -- Authorities in Mexico City have apprehended alleged kidnapper Heidi Wolf, sought in a nationwide search since January, and recovered 3-year-old Josh Sultzbaugh unharmed, the FBI reported Tuesday.
The child was taken from his Big Coppitt home in the Florida Keys during a party his parents were throwing in January. Miss Wolf, 20, was a neighbor of the child's parents, Robert and Patricia Kobylarski.
The FBI said details of the apprehension late Monday were still sketchy Tuesday and there was no schedule set for the return of the boy or Miss Wolf. She has been named in an arrest warrant for kidnapping and is expected to be turned over to U.S. authorities.
Welton Merry, FBI spokesman in Miami, said the boy was recovered about 2 a.m. Tuesday from friends of Miss Wolf's in Mexico City.
Mrs. Kobylarksi reportedly gave a small shriek and then broke down crying with happiness when informed her child had been found safe. 'She was so happy she just couldn't believe it,' said an FBI agent who delivered the news.
Miss Wolf and the child were the subjects of a nationwide search since the child was abducted from his bedroom between 5 and 5:30 a.m. Jan. 6.
The Kobylarskis last saw the child after putting him to bed at 4:30 a.m. during a party at their home. Miss Wolf, who was living nearby, attended the party and reportedly paid a lot of attention to the child.
At noon that same day, Miss Wolf, the child and another woman were seen abandoning a van at a service staiton in Palm Beach after it developed mechanical problems. The three were last seen hitchhiking down Interstate 95.
The FBI entered the case in Febuary after Miss Wolf agreed to turn the child over to a reporter from the Key West Citizen. She backed out of the agreement to turn the child over at a meeting with the reporter in Mexico, however.
Merry said the FBI has not determined a motive for the kidnapping.
