OKC Father, Daughter Reunited After Suspect Steals Car, Kidnaps Child

A father and daughter are reunited after his car was stolen with her asleep in the backseat early Tuesday morning.

William Mitchell had just dropped off his mother at work and his daughter wanted to tag along.

Mitchell said he left the car running and went inside of the OnCue at Northwest 10th and Portland Ave. for coffee around 5:45 a.m. Surveillance video showed a man jump behind the wheel of Mitchell's car and drive away.

“I said call 911, my daughter is in the car and the car is stolen,” said Mitchell, about what he told workers at the convenience store.

“Am I going to see my daughter again?” Mitchell admits to thinking after the incident.

The suspect has been identified by police as Eugene Boutwell.

About an hour after Mitchell's daughter was kidnapped, police said the 12-year-old was dropped off near I-40 and the McCloud exit.

Chelsea Mitchell said she was asleep in the car until she was woken by the suspect.

"There was this little house, he just put me on the front of the house and drove off,” said Chelsea Mitchell. “What was going on?” Chelsea said she was thinking as she walked to a Love’s gas station to call for help.

Eventually police were called and Chelsea and her dog who was also in the backseat of the car were on their way home.

“Pretty relieved, happy he’s there,” Chelsea said about being reunited with her father.

“It was like the first day she was born. It was that good of a feeling,” said William Mitchell while holding his daughter close.

Police were able to use a cellphone in the stolen car to locate the vehicle.

“We always knew where the car was,” said Capt. Paco Balderrama with the OCPD.

Soon after, authorities picked up Boutwell outside a home in Pottawatomie County.