WILDERVILLE, Ore. – Thousands of cellphone users over a wide area, including Central Oregon, received an AMBER Alert late Monday morning for a 5-month-old baby taken from a rural Josephine County home by his non-custodial father overnight. The child was found with his father, who was arrested a short time after the alert was issued. 

Josephine County authorities requested the AMBER Alert for 8-month-old Kaydence Patterson, who they said was taken overnight by a non-custodial parent from a home in the 32000 block of Redwood Highway in the Wilderville area southwest of Grants Pass.

In the alert, issued at 11:19 a.m., the suspect was identified as James Patterson, described as 5-foot-10, with a thin build and brown hair. There was no clothing description given, and no photographs were provided in the alert, which was canceled within the hour.

Oregon State Police later reported: "The infant was abducted following a domestic violence incident at the location and the suspect was known to be armed."

At 11:27 a.m., OSP was notified by Josephine County that the suspect and infant had been located. Troopers said the suspect was taken into custody, and the child was safely recovered unharmed.

Oregon’s AMBER Alert program is administered by the Oregon State Police. It is a statewide program used to help locate abducted children. OSP uses FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) to send both Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages in the event of an AMBER Alert. Alerts are transmitted simultaneously to all mobile devices in the affected area.

AMBER Alerts are issued when specific activation criteria is met and includes a reasonable belief that an abduction has occurred; the child is aged 17 years or younger; law enforcement believe the child is in imminent danger; and there is enough information to assist in the recovery of the child.

Officers had said Patterson was driving a 2006 Silver Infinity M30, with Oregon license plate OEO 422. The direction of travel was unknown.

Anyone with information about the incident had been asked to contact the Oregon AMBER Alert Tip Line at 1-866-5AMBER5 (1-866-526-2375) or call 911.

An AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert is a nationwide emergency public notification system seeking the public's help in finding an abducted child who is believed to be in serious danger.

It's also named in memory of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kindapped and murdered in Texas 30 years ago.