Bystander witnessed end of child abduction in Downingtown
DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- An arrest warrant has been issued for a mother who is wanted for abducting her 6-year-old daughter in Chester County. Pennsylvania State Police issued an Amber Alert after the little girl was taken outside an elementary school on Tuesday.
"None of us are going to rest easy until Zoe is home," Assistant Attorney Michael Barry said.
Police tell CBS3 Zoe Moss, 6, was last seen outside of an elementary school on Washington Avenue in Downingtown around 6 p.m.
STATEWIDE: AMBER Alert. Downingtown PD is searching for Zoe MOSS. Call 911 if seen. pic.twitter.com/8jJ3tmRWmc
— PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) October 26, 2022
Now, they believe she could be far from home and possibly in danger.
Downingtown Police and Pennsylvania State Police has signs posted on highways and pictures of the 6-year-old have been sent out across the Delaware Valley.
"We're just really asking everyone in the public to be on alert and try to help us find Zoe Moss," Barry said.
CBS3 is told the little girl was at the elementary school for a court-ordered supervised visit with her biological mother, 37-year-old Vanessa Gutshall.
She did not have custody of Zoe.
Some time during that visit, Gutshall is accused of abducting the 6-year-old and taking off in a gray 2016 Volkswagen Jetta with the license plate KXR-3699.
Gutshall was last seen around 8 p.m. Tuesday, about an hour from Downingtown, at a restaurant in Wrightsville and investigators say even though Zoe is with her mom, they still believe she could be in danger.
Lee Vincent says he saw Gutshall speeding away Tuesday evening and later learned about the Amber Alert.
"She ran the stop sign here at Chestnut and Washington, almost took out a couple of other cars and she was gone," Vincent said. "After hearing what happened it hits ya."
Zoe attends Hillsdale Elementary in West Chester, about 15 minutes from where she was taken.
"She's with her mother but that doesn't necessarily mean we're not concerned for her safety. Her mother does not have custody of her," Barry said.
Anyone who may know of Zoe or her mother's whereabouts should call Downingtown police.