Authorities have canceled an Amber Alert after a missing Milwaukee boy was found safe Sunday.
One-year-old Carter Taratino was in a vehicle at a gas station at 5909 W. Good Hope Road when the vehicle was stolen at 5:50 p.m.
According to police, the boy's mother left the car running and went inside the gas station to buy something. That's when a man jumped in and took off.
"She ran down the street to try to catch him and let him know there's a baby in the car but he wouldn't stop," said Sharon Whittaker, the boy's grandmother.
Whittaker says her daughter is visiting from Wisconsin Rapids and stopped at the gas station before getting on the highway. She said her daughter is used to living in a safer area.
"She let her guard down because this is Milwaukee you can't pull up and run into the store," said Whittaker.
The Amber Alert was canceled at about 8:20 p.m. after police say a citizen found the stolen car in a residential area near Silver Spring and 39th Street.
"The Amber Alert really helped us out in this situation," said Milwaukee Police Inspector Jutiki Jackson. "From the Amber Alert, a citizen went out and noticed the car was parked in an unusual manner and it was still running and the lights were on."
Jackson says the baby was inside the car and unharmed. He also said the baby did not appear to be in any distress.
Whittaker expressed her gratitude to Milwaukee Police before leaving to be reunited with her grandson.
"They acted fast, they gathered the information they got people out into the field and as a result Carter is found," she said. "It could have ended a completely different way."
Police say the suspect has not been located but police are following up on leads.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call MPD at 414-935-7401.
Editor's Note: The initial Amber Alert listed the boy's name as Taratino Carter, but the boy's grandmother confirmed to TODAYS'S TMJ4 that his name is Carter Taratino.
