Very sadly an adult male and female child were found dead Saturday in the SUV targeted in a statewide Amber Alert following a father’s abduction of his Sacramento toddler, the FBI said.
The green Toyota 4Runner of Mourad “Moni” Samaan, 49, and his 2-year-old daughter Madeline Samaan-Fay was found Saturday at about 8 p.m. on a road near the town of Sommerset, about 50 miles east of the capital.
The FBI canceled the Amber Alert, but stopped short of confirming the two people dead inside the SUV were the father and daughter.
The cause and time of death are unknown, the FBI said, and federal and El Dorado Sheriff’s Office investigators were processing the scene into the night.
The FBI issued an Amber Alert on Friday after Samaan abducted his daughter on Aug. 7 and was reportedly headed to the Bay Area. The Egyptian-born U.S. citizen took his daughter after losing joint custody of the toddler, the FBI said.
The girl was last seen Aug. 7 with her father in a Sacramento grocery store. The FBI released photographs of the father and daughter, including a photo showing them in the grocery store.