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Bridgeport Police: Ordeal Ended For Kidnapped 6-Year-Old With Crash In Pa.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A night of horror for a 6-year-old girl who was snatched by her father after he killed her mother early Friday ended in a car crash during a police pursuit in Pennsylvania, Bridgeport Police said.

Mayor Joe Ganim and police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald speak in a press conference Friday on safe recovery of a missing 6-year-old girl and the arrest of her father, who is a suspect in the fatal stabbing of her mother.

Mayor Joe Ganim and police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald speak in a press conference Friday on safe recovery of a missing 6-year-old girl and the arrest of her father, who is a suspect in the fatal stabbing of her mother.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern
Mayor Joe Ganim thanks the media and the public for spreading the word on a missing 6-year-old Bridgeport girl, who was found safe late Friday morning in Pennsylvania. He is speaking at a press conference at the Margaret E. Morton Government Center.

Mayor Joe Ganim thanks the media and the public for spreading the word on a missing 6-year-old Bridgeport girl, who was found safe late Friday morning in Pennsylvania. He is speaking at a press conference at the Margaret E. Morton Government Center.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern
Aylin Sofia Hernandez, of Bridgeport, was found safe in Pennsylvania after an Amber Alert was issued for her early Friday.

Aylin Sofia Hernandez, of Bridgeport, was found safe in Pennsylvania after an Amber Alert was issued for her early Friday.

Photo Credit: Bridgeport Police Department
Oscar Hernandez, who is suspected of stabbing a woman to death in Bridgeport and abducting his 6-year-old daughter, has been arrested in Pennsylvania.

Oscar Hernandez, who is suspected of stabbing a woman to death in Bridgeport and abducting his 6-year-old daughter, has been arrested in Pennsylvania.

Photo Credit: State Police
The crime scene is at 69 Greenwood Road in Bridgeport, a residential street near a park.

The crime scene is at 69 Greenwood Road in Bridgeport, a residential street near a park.

Photo Credit: Google Maps
Mayor Joe Ganim speaks with police officers Friday morning at the scene of an overnight murder and child abduction in Bridgeport.

Mayor Joe Ganim speaks with police officers Friday morning at the scene of an overnight murder and child abduction in Bridgeport.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern

Police said Aylin Sofia Hernandez was found safe but did suffer minor injuries. Her father, Oscar Hernandez, 39, is the suspect in the murder early Friday of Nidia Gonzalez, 26, of 69 Greenwood Road.. He also suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital to be treated along with his daughter, police said.

He was held as a fugitive from justice, and Bridgeport Police said they will be seeking his extradition on a murder charge, Capt. Brian Fitzgerald said at a press conference outside of Mayor Joseph Ganim’s office.

Police responded to the scene at 2:45 a.m. following a 911 call by the landlord, Fitzgerald said. They found Nidia Gonzalez dead from stab wounds and a second woman in critical condition, also with stab wounds. That woman, whom Fitzgerald didn’t identify, is in critical but stable condition in St. Vincent's Medical Center.

Police discovered quickly that the 6-year-old girl was missing and determined that the father was a suspect. They quickly alerted fellow police agencies and launched the Amber Alert, which was pinged on cellphones and posted on highway signs.

Police Chief Armando Perez thanked the police agencies that quickly acted and offered their support.

“They all stepped up to the plate and delivered. They delivered this girl home,” he said.

He also expressed concern for the girl, who lost her mother and whose father is a murder suspect.

“Her life has changed forever, and for us in public safety that’s our mission, that is paramount, we wanted to bring that little girl home. She lost her mom and now she lost her father,” Perez said.

An emotional Perez pledged the department’s help for the girl. “Hopefully this community will embrace her. We at the Bridgeport Police Department…we will embrace her and do whatever is needed to take care of her.”

Related story: Missing Bridgeport girl found safe in Pennsylvania; father arrested 

The faculty and staff at St. Raphael Academy in Bridgeport, where Aylin is a first-grader, are relieved the 6-year-old was found safe but devastated by the murder of her mother, said Bridgeport Diocese spokesman Brian Wallace.

The students at St. Raphael Academy — a pre-K through third grade building — are very young and many are unaware of what happened, Wallace said.

The diocese deployed its Safe Environment Team to help students deal with the trauma Friday, and Catholic Charities also sent counselors. Those teams will return Monday, "when it starts to sink in what happened," Wallace said.

"An email letter has been sent to all parents to assure them that this tragedy is a result of a domestic situation and does not pose any safety threats to the children or staff," a statement from the diocese said.

Wallace also said the school community would be looking to help Aylin and her family.

"We ask prayers for the student and her family as we continue to work with them in the coming days," the diocese said.

Pennsylvania State Police spotted the vehicle around around 11:15 a.m. near State College, which is about 350 miles from Bridgeport

A multi-state Amber Alert had been issued for Aylin, with police alerting residents throughout Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania.

A multi-state Amber Alert had been issued for Aylin, with police alerting residents throughout Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania.

The house is in a quiet residential neighborhood off Summit Street.

A neighbor said she would occasionally see the woman as she drove in the neighborhood but didn't know her.

"This is a really safe neighborhood," she said. "This is a tragedy."

The Amber Alert flashed on cellphones throughout the area and was posted on highway signs.

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