HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A grainy, poorly lit cellphone video captured the moments after a 3-year-old boy was found safe by police Tuesday night.
The boy Xzavius Alexander Edwards III, was spotted in Naranja Park with his mother, Clanetha Davis, 31, by a tipster who had heard of the boy's abduction from local news sources, Homestead police said.
"She was just sitting down over there by the car in the park, minding her own business," a witness told Local 10 News.
Authorities were increasingly worried about Xzavius' safety after he was reported missing Sunday.
Police allege his mother is addicted to drugs and has "violent tendencies."
The boy was abducted "when the mother was visiting the child, " Detective Fernando Morales said.
Davis took Xzavius from the aunt's home in the 900 block of Northwest 11th Street.
The Florida Department of Children and Families had previously removed the boy from Davis' custody and granted temporary custody to an aunt.
"Once the aunt took her attention off the child and ... the mom, the mom took that opportunity and fled the residence with the child," Morales said.
Someone spotted the boy in a parking lot at a park Tuesday night, not too far from his aunt's house.
"They just walked up to her and they wasn't aggressive," the witness said. "They just walked up to her (and) went to talking to her. The baby remained sitting down. It wasn't no terrible scene."
Davis was arrested by police.
Xzavius was unharmed when he was found.
Detectives are coordinating with DCF to determine the placement of the child.