Child taken during car theft was abandoned on doorstep of a stranger, SC sheriff says

A child strapped in a car seat was left on a porch in South Carolina, and investigators have linked the discovery to a car theft that occurred earlier in the evening.

It happened late Monday, Nov. 13, at a rural home south of Greenville, South Carolina, according to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. Greenville is about 100 miles northwest of Columbia.

“The child is safe and was unharmed,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “The vehicle has not yet been recovered.”

Investigators say the frightening odyssey began around 6:30 p.m. at the McDonald’s on Augusta Road in Greenville.

The child was left in an “unattended” running vehicle outside the restaurant, and a thief seized the opportunity to jump in the car and drive away, the sheriff’s office said.

“Deputies later received a call from 104 Lakeside (Road) in reference to a person finding a child in a child seat on their porch,” officials said. “Deputies responded ... and located the child that was left in the vehicle.”

The home is about 7 miles north of where the vehicle was taken, maps show.

Investigators have not identified the child’s caretaker at the time of the theft.

This story was originally published November 14, 2023 at 5:15 AM with the headline "Child taken during car theft was abandoned on doorstep of a stranger, SC sheriff says."