A teenager was abducted in southern Iowa’s Lucas County prompting a statewide Amber Alert today. The Alert was issued at 1:10 P.M. for 17-year-old Aziza Wirth of Lucas.
Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesperson Jessica Lown says Wirth is nine months pregnant and authorities believed she was taken against her will by the father of the unborn baby, 20-year-old Joseph Vivone. Lown says Vivone turned himself in, along with Wirth, shortly after the Amber Alert was issued.
Wirth was not harmed. Local authorities were concerned because Vivone had assaulted Wirth on New Year’s Eve. Lown says the case met all the criteria for an Amber Alert. "The gal was under the age of 18, believed that she was in danger and we had sufficient descriptions of her and the abductor," Lown said. "She was taken by force from her home this morning and when we have all of those criteria met…we want to put the safety of the individual above all else. Thankfully, it was a safe and successful resolution today."
Authorities in Lucas County have not said yet if Vivone will be charged in the case.