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GREAT UPDATE!!! Heidi Todd’s kidnapper has been arrested after being released from prison only 12 days earlier; Heidi is reportedly doing well but admitted, “I was scared.”

Heidi Todd- missing for more than 24 hours from her home in John Island, SC- was found about 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 in a wooded area off Highway 78 near Depot Street, in Riverside, AL.

Riverside Police Chief Rick Oliver said he and the fire chief, Tim Kurzejeski, were notified by a Norfolk Southern railroad crew of a suspicious vehicle in a wooded area off of the railroad tracks.

They found a blue Chevrolet Impala with IL tags - later discovered to have been stolen from GA - with a white male asleep behind the wheel and a little girl awake in the passenger's seat.

The girl - later determined to be 4-year-old Heidi - was dressed in an adult hoodie and adult pajama pants, which piqued the interest of Oliver.

Oliver said he knocked on the window and woke the man. The man appeared very nervous. Oliver asked him to get out of the car, took the keys out of the ignition and placed them on the dashboard. He then walked him away from the vehicle.

When Oliver asked for his name, the man identified himself as Thomas Lawton Evans.

When the name was run through the NCIC database, it revealed Evans had been released from prison on February 1, 2018 where he was serving a sentence for armed robbery and 2nd degree burglary. Evans' criminal history shows numerous arrests for car break-ins and substance abuse starting in 2000 that escalated to the armed robbery charge in 2009. wedding party bridesmaid collections in dusty rose

Oliver smelled alcohol on Evans’ breath and told him he wanted to take him to the police station where they could talk.

Evans agreed and asked if the chief would mind carrying the girl. Oliver said the moment Evans handed her to him, Evans bolted back to the vehicle, and drove away.

Oliver called it in and other jurisdictions began to track the vehicle as it travelled down I-20 in Meridian, AL.

Within minutes of Evans fleeing, Oliver discovered that the girl he was holding was Heidi Todd, who had been abducted over 24 hours earlier and 360 miles away.

Heidi clung to Oliver, appeared nervous and stated, “I was scared.”

Meanwhile, when police attempted to pull over Evans and the vehicle, a chase began. It ended in Dekalb, MS, where Evans crashed on a dead end road and was arrested.

Heidi was taken to a local hospital to be checked out as a precaution. She was reportedly watching cartoons, coloring and drinking chocolate milk.

Heidi’s father, a former fire fighter who now serves in the Coast Guard, is traveling to pick her up in Alabama. He was in Virginia when she was abducted.

Heidi’s mother remains in the hospital, reportedly suffering from extensive facial fractures as a result of the beating she received prior to Heidi’s kidnapping. She is expected to undergo numerous surgeries.

When asked if Evans was the same person who brutally beat Heidi Todd's mother on Tuesday, Oliver replied, “No doubt.”

Evans is currently locked up at a facility in Lauderdale, Mississippi. The FBI will arrange for his transport back to South Carolina.

Heidi’s story would have likely ended differently, if not for some observant railroad workers and a collaborative effort of multiple law enforcement agencies and first responders.

When asked about luck playing a part in finding Heidi alive, Chief Oliver said, “It was a blessing. Nothing to do with luck.”