Amber Alert Canceled For 2-Year-old Forcibly Taken From Tulsa Daycare

A 2-year-old girl forcibly taken from a Tulsa daycare on Thursday afternoon was found safe about four hours after her abduction, according to police.

Tulsa police issued an Amber Alert about 2 p.m. and canceled it just before 5 p.m.

Unique Gill was found safe, and her abductor, Shannon Dean, 38, was taken into custody during a traffic stop in the 4300 block of North Hartford Avenue.

Gill was reunited with her mother, and mom held on tight to her baby girl as she carried her away from a Tulsa police station.

Police said Dean, an ex-convict and sex offender, entered a daycare facility at 5900 S. Peoria Ave. about 1 p.m., grabbed Gill from the arms of a worker and left with her.

Recently, a permanent protective order was granted for the toddler and her mother in which Dean is the defendant. He was ordered to have no contact with the child and has been stripped of his parental rights to her, according to a news release.

Dean also was wanted on an outstanding felony warrant for domestic assault and battery.

Dean has served time in the Oklahoma prison system off and on since 1990. He has convictions for kidnapping, first-degree rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, larceny of merchandise and unlawful distribution of narcotics.

Dean walked into the Hearts of Angels Child Care Center and snatched the girl from a daycare worker's arms.

In the Amber Alert issued to media, Tulsa police said they believed Dean to be dangerous and said he is a heavy drug user who smelled of alcohol when he took the child.

"The worker said, 'You can't leave with her. You can't leave with her.' And he left with her," TPD Sgt. John Adams said.

Police are not sure why Dean snatched the girl, but investigators speculate it may have something to do with the recent protective order.

"There's a reason why the judge issued the protective order and told him not to be around the child," Adams said.

TPD's Violent Crimes Task Force spread out in areas where Dean's friends and family live.

Someone finally spotted Dean's getaway car in north Tulsa.

"[We're] very thankful to the public, because when we have an Amber Alert, we get a lot of support from the public," Adams said.

Around the same time police were arresting Dean, parents were also rushing to the daycare center to pick up their kids. They were shocked to see police cars outside.

"My heart went through my throat," Dora Juarez said. "I have children in this center and you never know in this area what can happen."

Juarez said, in the time her kids have been at the daycare, nothing like this has ever happened.

"It's kind of worrisome, because it can happen to any child," Juarez said. "Unfortunately, it happened to a child here, but it can happen to any child."

Dean is being held on complaints of violating a protective order, kidnapping, failure to register as a sex offender, public intoxication, and the two previous charges he was wanted for --possession of a controlled drug and domestic assault and battery.