TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. (WGNO) — The search has ended for a 2-year-old who was abducted in Tangipahoa Parish.

The incident happened on September 30, 2025, around 9:45 p.m. That’s when police said the 2-year-old’s mother, her child and 49-year-old James Casey Mercier, McComb, Mississippi, were in the car going south on I-55. State police said the three pulled over at the Welcome Center just north of Kentwood.

That’s when the child’s mother got out of the car to get the child out of the backseat. Reports indicated that Mercier allegedly took off with him inside.

Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office officials said the child was located in the backseat of the vehicle in the parking lot of a Kentwood business.

The suspected kidnapper, identified by police as Mercier, has been captured and is being charged with aggravated kidnapping.