Pennsylvania girl kidnapped then found still in state custody

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Friday, May 3, 2019
Pennsylvania girl kidnapped then found still in state custody
Pennsylvania girl kidnapped then found still in state custody. Brian Taff reports during Action News at 4 p.m. on May 3, 2019.

A four-year-old Pennsylvania girl who was kidnapped a week ago, then found more than two miles away, has not yet been returned to her parents.

Police say Gemma Moates was taken from her Franklin County home in the overnight hours of April 26th.

Her father noticed her door open, then discovered her missing.

That sent off a frantic search involving the police and the National Guard.

Hours later, the little girl was found on the side of a road, taped and bound and locked in a box.

"To be able to look at her and tape her up, it just makes me sick," said Stephanie Moates.

Children and Youth Services took the girl into custody as is normal when the suspect isn't caught.

But, Thomas Andrew Dewald has since been arrested.

The family now has to wait for a court hearing on Monday for a judge to approve Gemma's return home.