LORAIN – Police said a child who went missing last night most likely was released by an unknown person prior to being found early this morning.
Lana Lowther, 2, went missing from her home in the 200 block of Randall Avenue around 8:45 p.m. and was found by Lorain resident Andrew Tornabene around 12:46 a.m. in the area of Missouri Avenue and Cleveland Boulevard.
Amanda Lowther, Lana’s mother, can be heard crying on the 911 call made at 8:45 p.m. as she tells a dispatcher that her oldest daughter saw someone grab Lana by the hand and run off with her toward Colorado Avenue.
In a press release from the Lorain Police Department, Capt. Roger Watkins said Lana was a bit wet and cold but had no visible injuries when she was found.
“The Lorain Police Department believes that the condition of this child is not consistent to being exposed to last night’s frigid conditions for more than four hours,” Watkins wrote.
On video captured by a police dashboard camera, cheers can be heard erupting from those who had searched for the girl when it was learned she had been located.
Amanda Lowther declined to speak to the press Thursday but her cousin John Kurta, who said he considers himself an uncle to Lana, spoke on behalf of the family outside of their Randall Avenue home.
John Kurta said Lana is doing well and was her usual self, playing with toys and appearing to have no recollection of the night of her disappearance.
“Kids are resilient,” he said.
John Kurta said Lana is too young to explain what happened or who she was with, while adding that the family is appreciative for all the support from the community and local law enforcement for rallying to find Lana.
Pointing to numerous footprints in snow-covered yards throughout the neighborhood, John Kurta said the family wants to thank the hundreds who searched for Lana, and they hope to one day meet Tornabene to express their gratitude.
“There were probably 500 people on the ground searching for our baby,” he said. “People just came from everywhere. There were people pouring out from houses, police and firemen. This community stepped up last night and helped out family. I praise them for that.”
Lorain Police Capt. Roger Watkins said Thursday that police didn’t currently have any suspects but they hope to find out how she wound up a mile away from home and who she may have been with.
“We don’t have a specific person of interest but we are collecting evidence and investigating all angles,” Watkins said.
According to sex offender databases numerous sex offenders live in the immediate vicinity of the Lowther residence and the area she was found, people with charges on their records like rape, gross sexual imposition, kidnapping and pandering obscenity to minors.
John Kurta said that is Lana was taken by someone he hopes that person is punished but he also hopes they receive the help they obviously need for taking a child in the first place.
“We’re trying to wrap around in our minds where she was for all that time and what went on,” he said. “Nobody knows but her, she’s 2-years-old and can’t tell us, and whoever she was with. But I can’t say enough that finding her was nothing short of a miracle because stories don’t end like this all the time. ”
Contact Jon Wysochanski at 329-7123 or jwysochanski@chroniclet.com
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