Police narrowing search for abductors of 5-year-old girl

Police say they have descriptions of two offenders in the abduction of a 5-year-old girl from a West Philadelphia elementary school and have narrowed their search for the culprits to a grid of a few blocks.

Nailla Robinson was taken from Bryant Elementary School Monday morning. A passer-by found her in an Upper Darby park about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, shivering and wearing only a T-shirt.

A woman who picked up the girl from the school walked her several blocks to a residence, said Capt. John Darby of the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit.

There, they were joined by an adult man, Darby said. The girl was restrained, blindfolded and told to remove her clothing. She was also fed at the home.

"This little girl suffered conditions that no child should endure," Darby said said.

Darby said investigators have been working "around the clock" and are focusing their search on a grid that stretches from Spruce to Christian streets and from 56th Street to Cobbs Creek Parkway.

Police are "going to door to door" and handing out flyers at every residence and business in those blocks, he said.

The woman who took Nailla from the school is described as in her late 20s, 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall and possibly pregnant. She had a thin build, greenish eyes and dark skin. The woman identified herself to the child as "Rashida."

The man is described as light-skinned and in his mid-30s. He has short brown hair and was wearing sweatpants and a light blue T-shirt.

The ordeal began when a woman who called herself "Tiffany" and was wearing a Muslim-style face covering went to the school, at 60th and Cedar streets, at about 8:50 a.m. Monday.

She told someone at the school that she was picking up Nailla, and went to the kindergarten student's classroom and asked for the girl by name. Authorities said the woman indicated she was the child's mother and was taking her to breakfast.

School officials didn't realize until 3 p.m. that the woman wasn't authorized to pick up Nailla.

That discovery prompted an Amber Alert hours later, and an intense search for the child.

A passer-by, Nelson Mandela Myers, found the girl huddled under a slide at the 69th Street Recreation near 69th Street and Patterson Avenue while he was on his way to work. She told him she had been stolen, police said, and Myers alerted authorities.

Nailla was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was examined for signs of injury or sexual assault. Police said the girl had "no overt" indications of trauma and she returned home with her family Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, Darby wouldn't elaborate on any injuries the girl may have suffered.

Anyone who has information can call police at 215-686-8477 or 215-685-3251.