UPDATE: Nanny's Motive in Disappearance With Girl Still a Mystery: NYPD
A New York City nanny was arrested and charged after she returned a missing toddler, police said.
The NYPD said Wednesday that 55-year-old Fatima Alexander has been charged with kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful imprisonment.
Police say she took 3-year-old Gabriella Russo, who went missing Tuesday morning, setting off a day-long police search.
Both Gabriella and Alexander were unharmed and are in good condition, according to police.
The girl left her River Terrace home in Battery Park City with Alexander at about 9:15 a.m. to head to her day care as usual, according to police sources.
When the child didn't show up to her day care, the Preschool of America at 25 Market St., by noon, the school contacted her parents, sources said.
The nanny had been working for the family for about 15 years, according to the girl's aunt.
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"She didn't make it to school," Rebecca Russo, Gabriella's aunt, said in tears Tuesday night. "We last saw her on surveillance cameras."
"Just bring her home," Russo pleaded. "You see it happening on the news, and it's happening to us, our family."
Alexander was expected to be arraigned later Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if she had a lawyer.
