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Dad confronts kidnapper, saves 5-year-old daughter

 
Published Nov. 8, 2014

A Utah dad foiled an attempt to kidnap his young daughter from her bed early Friday after confronting a man carrying her across the lawn.

The 5-year-old girl wasn't hurt in the frightening experience, but the incident has evoked haunting echoes of when 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was snatched out of her Salt Lake City bedroom in 2002. She was held captive for nine months before being found.

The suspect in this case entered the home through an unlocked door about 4:30 a.m. in Sandy, a middle-class suburb south of Salt Lake City, police Sgt. Dean Carriger said.

The intruder was in the family's basement searching through things when he came upon the girl sleeping, Carriger said. The suspect took her out of bed and carried her upstairs, making noises that woke the parents.

The girl's stepfather went to the door and saw the man carrying his daughter in the front lawn. He ran outside and confronted the man, asking him what he was doing and demanding that the man give back his little girl.

The suspect handed her over to her stepfather without confrontation, Carriger said.

The suspect then fled, and the stepfather called 911.

Officers set up a perimeter, and with the help of police dogs captured the suspect, Carriger said.

The family told police they had never seen and don't know the suspect, whom police have identified as Troy Morley, 48, of Roy, Utah. Police don't know yet why the suspect was in the house or if he had planned it, Carriger said.

The family declined to talk with reporters.