Police: DFACS takes toddlers found after Levi's Call

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By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two children who vanished early Wednesday with a so-called Good Samaritan were recovered unharmed later in the day, but they won’t be reunited soon with their mother, authorities said.

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DeKalb County Police Department Jalen Mattison

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DeKalb County Police Department Amari Mattison

No charges against 'kidnapper'

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The state Department of Family and Children Services has taken custody of the children, DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday evening.

The woman's children were kidnapped by a man who had stopped to assist her after her car broke down on I-20 eastbound near Wesley Chapel Road, police said.

Half a day later, and after a Levi's Call and a massive search by DeKalb police and the GBI, the children were returned to authorities unharmed by two women who said a man had asked them to babysit the youngsters.

"As our investigators were looking into this case, talking with the mother throughout the morning, a lot of information surfaced that prompted them to notify DFCS," Parish said. She did not elaborate. Police did not release the mother's name.

As for the two women who ended up babysitting Jalen Mattison, 3, and Amari Mattison, 1, they told police “they were friends only” of the kidnapping suspect, Parish said. “They only knew his nickname.”

The women had assumed the man had rightful custody of the youngsters, Parish said. “The women only found out the kids were kidnapped late (Wednesday) morning from watching news reports,” she said.

Around 1 p.m., the women took the children to the DeKalb County Magistrate Court and turned them over to police officers there.

“We played it safe and did everything we should’ve done,” DeKalb County police Chief William O’Brien told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And it had a happy ending.”

Police said the children’s mother told them her silver Volvo had broken down on I-20 before 2 a.m. The suspect, who the mother did not know, stopped to help.

He drove the family a short distance to a Shell gas station at 2645 Wesley Chapel Road, police said. The man stayed there with the children as the mother walked back to her car to meet with police and arrange for a wrecker.

When the mother returned to the gas station, the man and her children were gone.

“We believe he dropped them off within an hour of taking them,” Parish said.

Police immediately canvassed the area around the gas station, spreading their search out along the entire Wesley Chapel corridor in search of the children. Eventually, police dogs and a helicopter were brought in.

O’Brien said the department issued a Levi’s Call, Georgia’s AMBER alert extending the search nationwide, very early in the day.

Police said they believe the women who ended up watching the children didn’t realize the youngsters had been abducted, and they won’t face charges.

But police Wednesday evening continued to look for the kidnapping suspect.

They described him as a black male, about 6 feet tall, with a thin build and wearing a light brown or tan baseball cap. He is believed to be driving a 2000-2005 hunter green Jeep Cherokee. Anyone with information about him is asked to call the DeKalb County Police at 770-724-7850.

-- Staff writers Mike Morris and April Hunt contributed to this article.