Police officers spoke to the alleged kidnapper of an 8-year-old girl hours before she was found safe after a citizen tip led officers to her.
Michael Webb was arrested and charged with the abduction of Salem Sabatka after grabbing her while she was walking with her mother in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 18.
A local pastor and his friend located the vehicle that police had circulated a description for in the parking lot of WoodSpring Suites, tipping off police.
Webb was soon apprehended and Salem was found and returned to her family.
Officials later revealed that officers had gone to Webb’s room in the hotel hours prior to the citizen tip. The front desk clerk told officers that another person thought they’d seen the kidnapping suspect, reported NBC DFW.
The clerk told police that the person saw a young girl with the man, who they believed fit the description that was being circulated.
Officers went to the room and spoke to him with the door closed before he opened it after several minutes and let the officers go into the room.
Officers “made visual inspection of the areas of the room that appeared to be large enough to conceal the missing child,” but didn’t see the little girl or uncover evidence that she’d been there, police said.
The search took place around midnight on Sunday. About two hours later, the pastor and his friend spotted the vehicle and alerted the police.
NEW:
WoodSpring Suites releases statement on 8-year-old being found with accused kidnapper Michael Webb in their hotel, saying they gave their support & resources to police #WFAA pic.twitter.com/5e7GHrjLzV— Lauren Zakalik (@wfaalauren) May 21, 2019
Forest Hill Police Chief Dan Dennis told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that his department is probing how officers handled the search of the hotel room.
The Forest Hill Police Department had scheduled a Tuesday afternoon news conference to inform reporters about additional information in the case but canceled it.
“As with any major incident, we’re reviewing our handling of the incident and trying to determine if there’s anything we could do better,” he said.
“Our legal department has advised that we make no further releases in an effort to ensure that we don’t jeopardize the ongoing criminal investigation and any subsequent prosecution,” Forest Hill police officials said in a written statement obtained by WFAA.
The Fort Worth Police Department said that the abduction appeared to be random.
“At this point in time, it may have seemed like it was just a random deal,” Officer Buddy Calzada said. “He just decided to take this child at this given moment.”
#BREAKING: WoodSpring Suites Fort Worth in Forest Hill is surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. This is where @fortworthpd told us to meet them for a second update on #SalemSabatka. We know she was found at a hotel & is safe. Stay tuned. @wfaa pic.twitter.com/cLR57eXgm2
— Ariel Plasencia (@ariel_plasencia) May 19, 2019
Mother Fought Valiantly
Officials said that Salem’s mother tried fighting off Webb but ultimately failed.
Rachel Sweet put up a “valiant fight” when Webb grabbed her girl, police said, according to the Star-Telegram.
She grabbed jewelry he was wearing but he was able to jump into his car and take off.
Webb, meanwhile, was transferred into the custody of the FBI on Tuesday. Webb’s bail was set at $100,000 but he is not going to be released not that he’s in federal custody, reported NBC.
“You can assure the public that Mr. Webb has not bonded out of jail or been released,” an FBI spokesman said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cureton ordered Webb held until his next hearing on June 4, classifying him as a flight risk.
