Police have found a clue in the Amber Alert search for a missing nine-year-old Ottumwa girl. Gloria Bonilla Lopez was reported missing after she was seen getting into a car at a busstop this morning. Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesman Jim Saunders says they’ve found the car. He says the 1998 green Toyota was found in the Northwest corner of Van Buren County in the Dows area.
The man suspected of kidnapping the girl is 29-year-old Brendan Stanley. Saunders says they’re trying to determine how the green car got there, and if they man and girl are now in another vehicle. He says local police, the sheriff’s office and state patrol aircraft are searching the area.
Stanley was originally believed to be taking the girl to Mexico, but the car was found in the opposite direction. Saunders says they can’t explain that. He says they don’t know the circumstances that led the car to be in that area, and now they’re focusing in on the search in that area. Gloria Bonilla Lopez is described as having long, straight black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a blue blouse, light blue sweatpants and pink shoes. Stanley is described as being a white male. Saunders says if you spot either of them you’re asked to call 9-1-1 immediately.