Crime & Safety

Update: Baby Missing from Spring Valley Is Found in Lakeside After Search

Anissa Von Goerlitz, 3 weeks old, had been reported missing about 11:15 a.m. by her grandmother, her legal guardian.

Updated at 9 p.m. April 5, 2013

A 3‐week‐old baby reported missing in Spring Valley has been found in Lakeside, authorities said Friday night. Agents from the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) found Anissa Von Goerlitz with her aunt, Deborah Ann Fowler, just before 8 p.m.

They were found inside the perimeter of the search area west of state Route 67,
south of Lakeside Drive, north of Channel Road.

Baby Anissa is OK, said a sheriff's statement.

Paramedics were evaluating the baby, which would be taken to a hospital for a
checkup. Deborah Fowler was taken to the Lemon Grove Sheriff's Station for questioning, said the statement.

She will be charged with vehicle theft and booked into Las Colinas Jail this evening. Fowler could also face child endangerment charges pending the investigation, said the Sheriff's Department.

The department thanked the public for its help during the search.

"We also want to credit our volunteers with the Sheriff's Search and Rescue (SAR) Unit, ASTREA and Border Patrol," said a statement.

Original story:

Deputies searched open areas near El Capitan High School by ground and air Friday in hopes of finding an infant allegedly kidnapped by her aunt from the Spring Valley home of the child's grandmother.

Sheriff's personnel began looking through stretches of riverbed and other brush-choked terrain off the 10600 block of Vine Street in Lakeside in the late afternoon, after an SUV belonging to the suspected abductor, 46-year-old Deborah Ann Fowler, was found in the area, sheriff's Lt. Scott Amos said.

The 3-week-old child, Anissa Von Goerlitz, had been reported missing about 11:15 a.m. by her grandmother, who is her legal guardian, according to Amos. The older woman told deputies Fowler had taken the baby without permission.

The suspect was described as a 5-foot-7-inch, roughly 130-pound white woman with brown hair and green eyes.

Anyone spotting Fowler was asked to contact sheriff's communications at (858) 565-5200. Callers may remain anonymous.

—City News Service contributed to this report.


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