Charleston, SC (WLTX) - The FBI says the mom of a kidnapped South Carolina toddler was attacked from behind, then brutally assaulted by the man who stole her child.
A criminal complaint filed by agents in federal court gives new details into the moments as four-year-old Heidi Todd was allegedly taken by 37-year-old Thomas Evans. Evans is a convicted felon who'd just been released from state prison back on February 1.
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The document says Todd's mother dropped off two of her children at school, then came back to the family home on Johns Islands around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday with her three other kids, including Heidi.
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As she was going inside her home, the FBI says Evans came up behind the woman and pushed her into the home, tackling her to the ground. Officers say the man then physically assaulted her, causing facial fractures and brain bleeding.
Evans then took Todd from the home, police say.
Later that day, when the mother didn't pick the other children up at school, administrators called Charleston police.
A neighbor then reportedly found the woman inside the house.
Officers arrived at the home at 5:50 p.m., and say when they got inside, they saw blood. The mom met them at the door, and officers could see she had 'significant facial trauma" and markings as if she'd been tied up.
Police found other evidence that led them to conclude she'd been bound by Evans. Officers found her other children too, and they appeared to be unharmed.
The mom was taken to the hospital where she needed "excessive treatment."
At 7:29 a.m. the next day, a credit card belonging to the mom was used at a gas station in Greensboro, Georgia, a small town right off Interstate 20 between Augusta and Atlanta. Surveillance video from the gas station showed a person using her credit card, but the camera didn't get images of the car he was using, but did get images fo his face and features.
Investigators say Evans--who apparently has no connection to the family---then took the child all the way to Riverside, Alabama, a small town about 40 miles from Birmingham. When he got there, police say he pulled over to sleep near city hall Wednesday afternoon.
Around 5 p.m. Eastern Time, someone called police to report the car being there as suspicious. Riverside Police Chief Rick Oliver was called to the scene, and found Evans asleep in the car, and Todd awake. The compliant says he noticed an 'odor of intoxicants about [Evans'] person" and there was then a heated exchange he and the suspect.
At that point, the suspect gave the little girl to the police chief, telling them he had to get his ID from the car. Evans then jumped into the vehicle and sped off, police say.
The little girl was then taken to a fire station until child services could help.
About four hours later, Evans car was spotted near Meridian, Mississippi, and investigators say the suspect led them on a short chase before he was taken into custody.
The FBI says the surveillance video from Georgia appears to match Evan's description. Authorities are working to bring him back to South Carolina.