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Amber Alert search ends in S.C.
Alleged abduction of woman, son took place at Kissimmee store

Amy L. Edwards | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 30, 2006


Kissimmee police canceled an Amber Alert late Friday after a 16-year-old girl and her toddler son, who may have been kidnapped by the child's father, were found safe in South Carolina.

Authorities in Orangeburg County, S.C., found Maria de Los-Angeles Ordaz and her 18-month-old son, Hector Villeda Jr. at a truck stop after they were tipped by a trucker who had seen the alert and spotted their car. Hector Villeda-Hernandez, the boy's father and Ordaz's ex-boyfriend, was taken into custody for questioning.

An Amber Alert had been issued earlier for the pair after they reportedly were abducted from a Kissimmee Wal-Mart store Thursday night.

The teenage mother and her son were videotaped exiting the Wal-Mart on Osceola Parkway with Villeda-Hernandez. Police said the teen had arranged to meet Villeda-Hernandez, 20, at the store to buy items for their son.

A short time later, Ordaz called a family friend and said Villeda-Hernandez had kidnapped her and the child. The phone was then disconnected.

"It appears at this time that both Maria and her son were taken against their will but appeared in good health" when they were found, Kissimmee police Lt. Ralph Moore said in a news release late Friday.

Villeda-Hernandez was being held on traffic charges until authorities can determine whether a kidnapping took place. Moore said Orangeburg authorities did not have anyone immediately available who speaks Spanish.

Moore would not say where Ordaz lives but said she had been staying in Kissimmee with the friend whom she called to report the alleged kidnapping. Ordaz and the friend are illegal immigrants, he said.

Kissimmee police had suspected that Villeda-Hernandez, who lives in Polk County, was headed to North Carolina, where he has family, in a purple 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier.

Amy L. Edwards can be reached at aledwards@orlandosentinel.com or 863-422-3395.